Urban Green Infrastructure Planning and Its Effect on Land and Climate Change

Dear Colleagues,

There are a lot of issues nowadays in urban areas, and various people are trying to find suitable solutions to them. Green infrastructure typically functions as an adaptation tool, such as in flood plain restoration or urban green infrastructure to combat the urban heat island effect, greenhouse effect, or gas emissions; hence, climate change adaptation efforts are strongly related to green infrastructure. This is a network of connected green spaces known to preserve the values and functions of natural ecosystems while also benefiting human populations. As we are currently living in an age of urbanization, when most people prefer to live in an urban environment, various types of solutions must be found in order to fulfill the general population’s needs, while at the same time addressing these types of issues. When developing multifunctional green space systems to solve relevant aspects of urbanization, such as supporting social cohesion, encouraging the transition to a green economy, adaptation to climate change, conservation of land and biodiversity, and addressing harmful emissions, urban green infrastructure is indeed a promising concept.

Adaptation to these urban issues, such as urban emissions or urban land pollution, foresees their negative effects and takes the steps required to limit or prevent these harmful effects. One of the most frequently used, practical, and efficient methods for reducing the negative consequences of harmful human activities is green infrastructure initiatives. Using scarce water resources more effectively, restoring natural flood defenses, utilizing tree species and forestry techniques that are less susceptible to storms and fires, putting in place natural water retention measures, lowering heat islands or carbon emissions in urban areas, reserving land corridors to aid in species migration, and restoring natural ecosystems that provide a suite of ecosystem services and human welfare are some examples of how it can help. This Special Issue aims to gather various articles regarding green infrastructure and its usage in addressing environmental destruction issues in urban contexts. Original research articles and reviews are encouraged to be submitted. The research topics may include (but are not limited to):

• The performance of urban green systems;
• Urban land planning and the integration of urban green infrastructure;
• The impact of green infrastructure on the general population’s well-being;
• The effectiveness of green infrastructure and its provision of ecosystem services;
• The impact that urban green infrastructure has on addressing various climate change issues;
• Studies that compare and contrast the best methods for designing urban green infrastructure to ensure urban sustainability.

Dr. Gunwoo Kim
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• urban planning
• urban green infrastructure
• urban sustainability
• land cover and use changes
• climate change adaptation
• ecosystem services