Urban Green Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services in Relation to Landscape Design, Planning and Management

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental challenges, climate change, and the living conditions of the inhabitants of larger cities oblige us to take nature beyond the emphasis on aesthetic perspectives. The fragmentation of European natural ecosystems, the relative isolation of protected areas, and the heavy reliance on grey infrastructure are among the causes of environmental degradation. The value of green spaces and ecosystems is more and more obvious, especially for our cities, municipalities, and communities, as they can provide fresh air corridors, regulate temperatures, and regulate the water balance in all populated areas. Green infrastructure refers to a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas designed and managed to deliver ecosystem services. It is well known that this can contribute to the effective implementation of a range of policies, including climate action, water, health, agriculture, growth, and disaster risk management.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to provide insights about the green infrastructure and ecosystem services of built areas of cities, towns, and rural communities from the landscape planning, design, and management perspective. The topics might range among various scales (national, regional, local) of analysis and present the best practises in green infrastructure design and management, strategies, and policies concerning how to design GI in order to maximise synergies with complementary policies, research on ecosystem services that should be included in the GI, stakeholder engagement in green spaces resilient design and planning, and the design of green spaces in the context of climate change adaptation. Papers dealing with the innovative renewal of historic urban sites and environments are also welcomed. The call is open to all scholars whose work relates to the above topics.

Suggested themes and article types for submissions：

• Green space resilient designs.
• Ecosystem-based approaches to landscape planning, design, and management.
• Measuring ecosystem services.
• Recreation relating to greenways to address public health and quality of life issues.
• Green spaces and corridors from aesthetic, experiential, and functional points of view.
• Ecosystem services such as habitat provision, ecosystem connectivity, and landscape permeability; carbon sequestration and air quality-related services; water cycle-related services; soil restoration and protection functions; cultural, aesthetic, and human health services; natural disaster prevention services; climate change mitigation services; the provisioning of food and raw materials; and protecting and restoring nature.
• Nature-based solutions.
• Biodiversity conservation.
• Green infrastructure history.
• Historic and cultural landscape renewal, planning, and design.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Aikaterini Gkoltsiou
Dr. Albert Fekete
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• landscape architecture (planning, design and management)
• ecosystem planning
• green roofs/green walls
• xeriscaping
• green infrastructure strategies
• nature based solutions
• urban ecosystems
• nature and public health
• biodiversity conservation
• knowledge sharing and participatory decision-making
• site preservation