City Greening, strategie per il paesaggio urbano tra estetica e salubrità

Abstract

The analysis of urban nature could be subdivided into a wide variety of interpretations and conceptual tools. Especially in recent decades the concept of 'ecosystem service' has become established, due to its ability to summarize the multiplicity of values and functions performed by the presence of natural elements within an urban context. Urban green infrastructures, in fact, provide for a variety of functions (material and energy supply, regulations, as well as cultural and spiritual functions), as widely claimed by several authors since the 90s until today (Costanza et al., 1992; TEEB, 2001). However, beyond its most recent formulations, the concept of urban green has an established history. By implementing green spaces in the city, it has always sought to obtain a series of documented environmental benefits, as well as positive impacts on the health and quality of life of the inhabitants. For these reasons, the integration of greenery has accompanied urban development over time, becoming of recent one of the main objectives of urban planning strategies and European Community programmes. The considerations of this paper are set in this framework of investigation, considering the urban resilience targets, within which the landscape has replaced architecture as a basic structure of urbanism, becoming both a lens through which to view the contemporary city, and the means by which to build it (Waldheim, 2006).