Urban green infrastructure: making future cities more sustainable
Urban green infrastructure has the ability to make make cities more sustainable. However, the exact implementation of green infrastructure and the choices that must be made during implementation, are still topic for discussion. In the Future Cities podcast, environmental scientist Joeri Morpurgo chats with goverment and industry about assessing biodiversity and ecosystem services by mapping the green in our cities.
When do we define a piece of nature in the city as a park? And when is something a tree or shrub? It may seem obvious, but in scientific literature the definitions vary quite a bit. That makes comparisons difficult. Environmental scientist Joeri Morpurgo looked at the differences and designed a general classification system for urban green space, called the Consolidated Urban Green Infrastructure (CUGIC). The tool helps policymakers, practitioners and researchers assess the state of their urban green infrastructure relevant to urban biodiversity, human well-being and ecosystem services.
A discussion about challenges and opportunities
In the Future Cities episode of 1 august 2023, Morpurgo, Dirk Voets (Head remote sensing, Cobra-Groeninzicht), Ciska van Alphen (Policy officer, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality), and Jacco Schuurkamp (Senior policy officer, Municipality The Hague) together discuss the challenges and opportunities for implementing green infrastructure and how the CUGIC system can help.
Listen to the whole episode of Future Cities: Green Infrastructure: Opportunities, Challenges, and the CUGIC.
About Future Cities
Future Cities is a monthly podcast that aims to increase awareness of, and to catalyse action on, urban resilience. The show examines this topic by discussing ongoing research, highlighting current efforts, and sharing stories of resilience in cities across the world. By exploring a wide variety of perspectives, the show digs deep into understanding the many dimensions of resilience and the ways in which cities prepare themselves for the extreme weather events of tomorrow.