Connectivity is a key element of Green Infrastructure plans, not only within elements of the Green Infrastructure plan itself, but the plan should also create connections between local institutions and people (Sandstrom, 2002). A diversity of stakeholders helps give the plan a strong base for developing the goals that will guide future planning efforts. A wide range of stakeholders can also help to generate public support for Green Infrastructure planning. This stage in the planning process is very similar to what is done for other types of environmental plans. Greenways almost always begin with two key elements: an outstanding natural or cultural feature and committed visionary leadership. Setting goals, bringing people together and garnering support for a Green Infrastructure plan is not easy, therefore visionary leadership (Flink et al., 1993). Setting goals, bringing people together and garnering support for a Green Infrastructure plan is not easy, therefore visionary leadership in the form of an advisory committee or a local leader is a critical component in this stage of the planning process.
A wide range of plan goals further distinguishes Green Infrastructure planning from previous strategies. Green Infrastructure plans must include goals for the protection of ecological functions, as well as protection of working lands, and open space for human benefit. These are factors that have been covered in other plan types, but typically not included all within one plan (McDonald et al., 2005). It should be noted that not all areas will include all possible conservation
objectives, but a plan should still be considered a Green Infrastructure plan if it incorporates and balances all salient conservation goals for the area. Goals for Green Infrastructure plans must be made for the entire landscape within the plan area. It is critical that the plan makers recognize the ecological context of the region they are planning for. Long-term ecological integrity depends upon the integrity of native species, the size and configuration of habitats within the landscape, integrity of the physical environment, and the context of the landscape (Perlman et al., 2005).
Ecosystems are interconnected and dynamic systems. They do not end and begin where the administration lines are drawn on a map. Green Infrastructure planning must take into account that an area€s resources are influenced and affected by the resources and population of neighboring regions. Drawing upon landscape ecology and conservation biology theories and practices within an environmental planning framework can ensure that Green Infrastructure plans integrate and account for all of these factors (McDonald et al., 2005).
The goal of a network design is to delineate an interconnected Green Infrastructure system that incorporates both benefits to nature and to people.
Similar to the goal setting stage, the analysis of the Green Infrastructure network should be based on current theories from ecology and land-use planning. The Green Infrastructure network should focus on creating meaningful links between habitats and ecosystem functions, understanding biodiversity at the local, landscape, and ecosystem scale, identifying critically valuable habitat areas, and the interaction of all these elements with the features of the built environment (Sandstrom, 2002). The design of the Green Infrastructure network should be based on the results of a thorough analysis of the plan area to determine the type and range of resources within the region.
Fig. 1.4Picture illustrates a hub/corridor framework which is ideal to protect the ecological integrity of an area and is commonly used in Green Infrastructure
planning
McDonald et al. (2005) recommends conducting the analysis around each individual Green Infrastructure goal, and then compiling that information to define the entire network. The design of the network should utilize a hub and corridor framework, with stepping stones to facilitate healthy wildlife habitat.
Figure 1.4 provides an illustrated example of the design that this type of framework should seek to replicate. Hubs are essential features in a Green Infrastructure network. They are defined as large, ecologically significant natural areas which serve two important purposes. The first purpose is to provide habitat for animal and plant species that cannot thrive in small patches of open space that exist in highly fragmented landscapes. Populations that are small, isolated, or subdivided into small groups because of restricted dispersal can be particularly susceptible to inbreeding and extinction (Falk, 2006). Without genetic variation, the population of a species will deteriorate. Natural corridors that link hubs are intended to link the gene pools of two populations. The wide movement of wildlife, even plants, along a natural corridor is essential for the survival of some species, especially those fairly high up on the food chain. If confined to a single nature reserve, even a quite large one, species can become an island population and possibly perish (Little, 1990). The gene pools of many remnant native populations have been seriously eroded, so that what persists today is often a small remnant of the original diversity. Small gene pools are more prone to inbreeding, as well as random genetic change from drift. Populations that formerly exchanged genes regularly may have also become genetically isolated by habitat fragmentation (Schwartz, 1993). The second purpose of a hub is to provide areas for wildlife to forage and breed. Another key component of the network is that it should include a broad diversity of land-uses.
A Green Infrastructure is intended to protect a wide variety of natural areas and ecosystems as well as including provisions for the protection of working lands and cultural heritage sites. This distinguishes Green Infrastructure plans from previous types of environmental planning. The plan should also contain information about the geographical distribution of the Green Infrastructure network. The network should be easily accessible, with equitable distribution of green spaces throughout the planned area because there is a strong need for nature that is easily accessible to residents. Restoring hub and linkage gaps is a crucial component to any Green Infrastructure plan, as most network designs will contain holes in the form of developed or degraded lands (McDonald et al., 2005). Gaps within the network are acceptable, as long as they are identified and the need for detailed analysis is accepted (Randolph, 2004). A geographic representation map of the Green Infrastructure network should be included to aid conservation efforts.
Fig. 1.5Picture illustrates building a Green Infrastructure for Europe (Source:
European Commission, 2013)
Figure 1.5 shows the illustration of planning a Green Infrastructure for Europe. Green Infrastructure planning should be the first step in the land-use planning and design process. Just like our built infrastructure, our Green Infrastructure should be carefully planned, designed, and invested in far in advance of development. Green Infrastructure planning should also be coordinated with planning for gray infrastructure roads, bike trails, water, electric, telecommunication and other essential community support systems. Integrated planning and design should connect the two in a more effective, economic and sustainable network. Green Infrastructure initiatives should use approaches similar to those used for the planning, design and financing of built infrastructure.
Green Infrastructure should be:
(1) Designed holistically. Like our transportation system, Green Infrastructure should be designed to link diverse green space elements into a system that functions as a whole, rather than as separate, unrelated parts.
(2) Planned comprehensively. Like our electric power and telecommunication systems, our green space systems need to be planned comprehensively to provide ecological, social and economic benefits, functions, and values.
(3) Laid out strategically. Like our roads and water systems, our green space systems need to be laid out strategically to cross multiple jurisdictions and incorporate green space elements at each level of government.
(4) Planned and implemented publicity. Like our built infrastructure systems, our Green Infrastructure systems should be planned and implemented with input
from and involvement of the public, including community organizations and private landowners.
(5) Grounded in the principles and practices of diverse professions. Like the design and planning of our transportation, water, electrical and phone systems, green space systems should be based on sound science and should build on the knowledge of professional disciplines such as landscape ecology, urban and regional planning, and landscape architecture.
(6) Funded up-front. Like other infrastructure systems, our green space systems need to be funded as a primary public investment. In other words, Green Infrastructure should be funded up front with other essential services, rather than with money that is left over after all other services have been provided.
Green Infrastructure planning should take place at all scales from the community parcel, to the local, and regional and statewide scales. At the regional level this could mean protecting the connectivity of broad wildlife movement corridors to connect regional ecology. At the local level this could mean designing zones around green spaces. At the community level this could mean creating greenways to link existing parks. Numerous conservation initiatives are occurring across the United States that embody Green Infrastructure concepts and approaches. These projects encompass a diversity of scales and landscape types.
The following are a few examples.
(1) Continental Scale and Multi-State Initiatives
- Sky Islands Network: a continental scale conservation initiative linking wilderness areas, parks and reserves and crossing the U.S. Mexico border (www.skyislandalliance.org/siwn.htm)
- Yellowstone to Yukon: a continental scale conservation initiative linking wilderness areas, parks and reserves and crossing the U.S. Canada border (www.rockies.ca/y2y/).
- Southeastern Ecological Framework: a regional conservation assessment identifying diverse ecological green space elements throughout the Southeast (www.geoplan.ufl.edu/epa/index.html).
(2) Statewide Initiatives
- State of Maryland Green Print Program: a statewide scale conservation initiative protecting forests, wetlands, river corridors and other critical ecological areas as a part of the state€s Smart Growth initiative (www.dnr.state.md.us/greenways/greenprint/).
- State of Florida Statewide Greenways System: a state wide scale conservation and recreation system that incorporates a linked ecological
network designed to benefit Florida€s wildlife and people (www.geoplan.ufl.edu/projects/greenways/greenwayindex.html)
(3) Regional Initiatives
- Chicago Wilderness Biodiversity Conservation Plan: a regional biodiversity conservation initiative developed by a public, private and nonprofit alliance and incorporating Green Infrastructure concepts and principles (www.chiwild.org/biodiversity.html).
- Twin Cities Minnesota Metro Greenways: a regional Green Infrastructure network design that identifies, protects and restores important ecological resource features in a multi-county metropolitan area (www.dnr.state.mn.us/greenprint/metro-green.html).
- Portland, Oregon Metro Greenspace Program: a regional conservation initiative that protects and restores natural areas and recreational open spaces through a partnership of state, regional and local government agencies and nongovernmental community organizations (www.metro-region.org/parks/parkfuture.html).
(4) Local and Community Initiatives
- Montgomery County, Maryland, Legacy Open Space: a comprehensive open space initiative that will target and protect exceptional resource lands over a 10 year period (www.mc-mncppc.org/legacy/index.html).
- Palm Beach County, Florida, Linked Open Space Network Conservation Greenways/Wildlife Corridors: a community open space and land conservation effort that incorporates a system of conservation greenways, wildlife corridors, trails and other conservation and recreational spaces that benefit both the environment and the community (www.pbcgov.com/pzb/).
- Kinston/Lenoir County, North Carolina, Green Infrastructure Plan: a community Green Infrastructure plan encompassing conservation and recreation objectives as well as hazard mitigation (http://www.Green Infrastructure.net/kinstonlenoir.htm).
Many people believe that Green Infrastructure represents the next generation of conservation action because it forges an important connection between land conservation and land-use planning. Traditional land conservation and Green Infrastructure planning both focus on environmental restoration and preservation, but Green Infrastructure also concentrates on the place, shape, and location of development and its relationship to important natural resources and amenities.
Unlike more conventional conservation approaches, Green Infrastructure
strategies actively seek to promote more efficient and sustainable land-use and development patterns, as well as protect natural ecosystems. As described in the previous section, Green Infrastructure differs from traditional conservation efforts in the following ways:
- It focuses on the protection of connected natural ecosystems as the framework for both conservation and development.
- It recognizes that physical linkage between green space elements is key to sustaining natural ecosystems and landscape processes.
- It emphasizes the importance of planning and protecting Green Infrastructure before development.
- It recognizes the need to connect green space elements across multiple jurisdictions, scales and landscape types.
- It focuses on the creation of a green space vision that excites and engages people and guides implementation actions.
- It considers the needs of both nature and humans addressing both the environmental effects of proposed development and the economic well-being of a community. In doing these entire things, Green Infrastructure also helps provide a framework for development, ensuring that developers, citizens and communities capture the cost advantages of location and create and protect community amenities.