Urban Green Infrastructure and Ecosystem Service Supply: A Study Concerning the Functional Urban Area of Cagliari, Italy

Federica Isola, Sabrina Lai, Federica Leone and Corrado Zoppi ()
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Federica Isola: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Architecture, University of Cagliari, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Sabrina Lai: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Architecture, University of Cagliari, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Federica Leone: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Architecture, University of Cagliari, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Corrado Zoppi: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Architecture, University of Cagliari, 09123 Cagliari, Italy

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-37

Abstract: Urban green infrastructure (UGI) is a network composed of natural and semi-natural areas, such as greenspaces, open areas, and water bodies, designed to enhance the provision of ecosystem services and to meet the needs and expectations of local communities. UGIs should be accessible and should improve the well-being and health of their users, protect and enhance biodiversity, and allow for the enjoyment of natural resources. The study proposes a methodological approach to defining a UGI, conceived as a network of areas connected by urban ecological corridors and suitable for providing climate regulation, flood risk mitigation, outdoor recreation, and biodiversity and habitat quality enhancement. The methodology is applied to the functional urban area (FUA) of the City of Cagliari, Italy. The analysis results show that areas with high values of climate regulation, carbon storage and sequestration, and habitat quality enhancement are particularly suitable to be part of a UGI. Although values for outdoor recreation appear to be less significant, the provision of this service is particularly relevant within the Cagliari FUA. However, areas characterized by high values of flood risk mitigation show a different behavior, which highlights how the presence of impermeable surface within urban areas is associated with a loss of patch connectivity.

Keywords: urban green infrastructure; urban ecosystem services; functional urban areas; urban planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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