Reconsidering green belts, green wedges and greenways

Abstract

Facing accelerated urbanization and landscape alteration, cities expand on the territory showing better or worse relationships between built environment and green spaces. Based on recent literature review, this article discusses the green wedges, green belts and greenway planning models in order to evaluate their capability in answering contemporary ecological and social issues. The article presents a conceptual overview of the selected planning models through a recent literature review, looking at the fundamental concepts of green infrastructure; then, it enlightens the connections between the spatial forms and the functions derived of these forms. These three models are connected infrastructures, varying between the ring, the star or linear forms. What differs the most is the capacity to encompass existing patches like forests or other valuable areas and the proximity and distribution of green spaces throughout the city. Whilst green belts, for their fringe condition, distance itself from the majority of inner-city dwellers, both green wedges and greenways can cross the urban fabric, and reach a greater number of neighborhoods, although the simple existence of these features does not guarantee their social functions. These findings have significant implications for the design of city expansions and can help to configure better neighborhoods in growing cities.