Urban Services to Ecosystems: An Introduction

Green infrastructure is a structural system of naturally developed human societies, capable of preserving and ensuring as much space as possible to the local biodiversity. For this reason, green infrastructure shall be planned and designed so that the urban built environment is in harmony with the surrounding biotic communities. The challenge is to sustain nature-based solutions in order to improve citizens’ awareness towards natural and seminatural ecosystems while providing our society with a more liveable, healthier, safer and fairer environment. This book puts an emphasis on the services the city can offer to nature, thanks to a multidisciplinary approach involving scientists and practitioners from different backgrounds: vegetation ecologists, architects, landscape architects, engineers and agronomists. The 26 contributions following this first chapter are organised in alphabetical order around three thematic pillars: (a) green infrastructure, urban ecology and vegetation science; (b) planning and implementation of green infrastructure; (c) nature-based solutions and innovative design approaches. The green infrastructure as we intend in this book includes urban and periurban spaces seen as semi-natural ecosystems, designed to establish mutually beneficial interactions and synergies with the surrounding natural ecosystems.