Green and blue infrastructure as a tool to support decision-making in the spatial planning process. The case of Lake Trichonida, Greece

Abstract

Green infrastructure (GI) has gained high interest over the last two decades, as a policy tool to promote sustainable development and enhance the resilience of both the urban and rural environments. GI has the potential to offer multiple benefits through the services and functions performed within ecosystems, and thus its implementation requires an integrated and balanced approach that emphasizes the multifunctional nature of a territory. Multifunctionality along with connectivity and networking appear to be core features accepted by all disciplines using the term. GI incorporates green spaces, or/and blue if aquatic ecosystems are concerned, and other physical features in terrestrial and marine areas. This paper presents the development and application of a methodology to facilitate spatial planning choices, incorporating a green and blue infrastructure (GBI) approach, in a Greek case, the wider area of Lake Trichonida in Western Greece. The conceptual basis of the proposed approach embeds both natural and man-made features that could function as green or blue infrastructure. The methodology and its application facilitated the identification of planning priorities and the pursue of planning objectives, thus supporting the decision-making in the spatial planning process. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.