Green space networks as natural infrastructures in PERI-URBAN areas

Abstract

Focusing on the analysis of green spaces of urban and peri-urban borders, this paper puts into practice a methodology designed for the analysis of green areas and peri-urban spaces as green infrastructures, but from a multifunctional and integrating perspective, as it is stated in the European Strategy for Green Infrastructures and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development goals. The deadline for implementing European legislation in this area means that strategic plans are being developed at local and regional level. In Spain there are municipal and regional strategies already developed and implemented but the national strategy has not yet been approved. To this end, the development of monitoring and evaluation tools such as the one presented in this article, can help not only in local decision-making, but also in the establishment of common criteria to help assess its future evolution. This research analyses the large peri-urban parks located in the southwest of the Community of Madrid (Spain). The evaluation is carried out from a local to a regional scale applying multifunctionality criteria to the planning, design, execution, maintenance and resilience phases. From the point of view of landscape structures, the findings of this study reflect a high environmental and social services delivery value, which makes it possible to understand the need to create networks to integrate the peri-urban spaces into the city and to attend to and understand the needs of all actors involved: citizens, political leaders, municipal technicians and private companies, providing them a common vision that improves the future of these spaces. This makes them core areas from which to design strategic plans for natural infrastructure and improvement of biodiversity in the urban area, being, likewise, an example that can be extrapolated and applied to large cities whose urban areas are adjoined and where peri-urban parks can be the starting point for designing supramunicipal strategies for open spaces. Based on these results we can conclude that south-west Madrid provides the ideal conditions for implementing a supra-municipal strategy for green infrastructures which, starting with its large forest parks, showcases the periurban areas which connect them with the urban green network. The Móstoles Green Network and Bosquesur are two strategic projects which, together with the forest parks, constitute a working framework based on which the Supra-municipal Strategy for Open Spaces in South-west Madrid can be devised.