Green-space preservation and allocation for sustainable greening of compact cities

Including greenery in human settlements is a tradition deeply rooted in antiquity, with diverse expressions. Realization of the green city ideal has changed with prevailing social-economic-political regimes and landscape styles. Variations in land use and development mode have generated green spaces of different geometry, distribution and composition. The compact city incurs inherent physical and institutional obstacles, restricting the quantity and quality of amenity vegetation. Recent research findings in arboriculture, urban forestry, urban ecology, urban planning and urban geography suggest alternative strategies for both existing and new green sites. A multidisciplinary interpretation distils relevant principles and practices to facilitate greening in packed neighborhoods and overcome major constraints. Measures are proposed to guard green spaces from intrusion, intensification and infilling to preserve both sites and conditions for plants, wildlife and ecological functions. New developments and redevelopments, with suitable encouragement and incentives, can earmark enough new green areas with appropriate location and design. Natural enclaves, especially woodlands, with high biodiversity and complex biomass should be incorporated into the future built environment. Partnership among government, developers and citizens should nurture the community's determination and capability to augment greening. A coordinating body to mobilize initiatives and efforts could gel disparate stakeholders and bring concerted actions. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.