IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v12y2023i2p415-d1057718.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Decision Support Tool for Green Infrastructure Planning in the Face of Rapid Urbanization

Author

Listed:
  • Peta Brom

    (Department of Architecture, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa)

  • Kristine Engemann

    (Department of Biology, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark)

  • Christina Breed

    (Department of Architecture, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa)

  • Maya Pasgaard

    (Department of Biology, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark)

  • Titilope Onaolapo

    (Department of Architecture, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa)

  • Jens-Christian Svenning

    (Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO) & Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark)

Abstract

Multifunctional green infrastructure, a key component of compact sustainable cities, is challenged by the pressures associated with rapid urbanization. In this paper, we present a method that uses remote sensing, GIS modeling and stakeholder engagement to produce a decision support tool that communicates the availability and need for green infrastructure benefits. The case study presented is the City of Tshwane, South Africa, a Global South city facing rapid urbanization. We found that this method of mapping green infrastructure benefits can provide simultaneous oversight on multiple objectives for green infrastructure, including climate change adaptation, biodiversity, and equitable distribution of urban green space. We found that low-scoring benefit areas occur in dense urban areas where small-scale nature-based solutions or rehabilitation activities are required. Moderate benefit scores occurred in parts of the city that are vulnerable to urban expansion and densification activities, warranting the careful planning of green infrastructure provision, and that moderate-to-high-scoring areas can be protected as conservation areas. The results are discussed in terms of the role of decision support tools for urban planning practice. Composite indexes can provide important guidance to decision-makers involved in spatial planning and urban upgrading and expansion activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Peta Brom & Kristine Engemann & Christina Breed & Maya Pasgaard & Titilope Onaolapo & Jens-Christian Svenning, 2023. "A Decision Support Tool for Green Infrastructure Planning in the Face of Rapid Urbanization," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-19, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:415-:d:1057718
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/2/415/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/2/415/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mauerhofer, V. & Ichinose, T. & Blackwell, B.D. & Willig, M.R. & Flint, C.G. & Krause, M.S. & Penker, ​M., 2018. "Underuse of social-ecological systems: A research agenda for addressing challenges to biocultural diversity," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 57-64.
    2. Rob Roggema & Nico Tillie & Greg Keeffe, 2021. "Nature-Based Urbanization: Scan Opportunities, Determine Directions and Create Inspiring Ecologies," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-30, June.
    3. Fernando Rubiera-Morollón & Ruben Garrido-Yserte, 2020. "Recent Literature about Urban Sprawl: A Renewed Relevance of the Phenomenon from the Perspective of Environmental Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-14, August.
    4. Kaoma, Humphrey & Shackleton, Charlie M., 2015. "The direct-use value of urban tree non-timber forest products to household income in poorer suburbs in South African towns," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 104-112.
    5. Sandifer, Paul A. & Sutton-Grier, Ariana E. & Ward, Bethney P., 2015. "Exploring connections among nature, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human health and well-being: Opportunities to enhance health and biodiversity conservation," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 1-15.
    6. James Wabwire Oguttu & Tulisiwe P. Mbombo-Dweba & Jabulani R. Ncayiyana, 2021. "Factors Correlated with Home Gardening in Gauteng Province, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-16, March.
    7. Walter Musakwa & Shuai Wang & Fangli Wei & Olgah Lerato Malapane & Masala Makumule Thomas & Sydney Mavengahama & Hongwei Zeng & Bingfang Wu & Wenwu Zhao & Nesisa Analisa Nyathi & Zama Eric Mashimbye &, 2020. "Survey of Community Livelihoods and Landscape Change along the Nzhelele and Levuvhu River Catchments in Limpopo Province, South Africa," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-21, March.
    8. Hesekia Garekae & Charlie M. Shackleton, 2020. "Foraging Wild Food in Urban Spaces: The Contribution of Wild Foods to Urban Dietary Diversity in South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    9. V. M. Jayasooriya & A. W. M. Ng & S. Muthukumaran & B. J. C. Perera, 2019. "Multi Criteria Decision Making in Selecting Stormwater Management Green Infrastructure for Industrial Areas Part 1: Stakeholder Preference Elicitation," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 33(2), pages 627-639, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kossivi Fabrice Dossa & Yann Emmanuel Miassi, 2024. "Urban Planning and Green Infrastructure Under a Changing Climate in Africa," International Journal of Regional Development, Macrothink Institute, vol. 11(1), pages 1-1, December.
    2. Castaldo, Anna Giulia & Nocentini, Margherita Gori & Lemes de Oliveira, Fabiano & Mahmoud, Israa H., 2025. "Nature-based solutions and urban planning in the Global South: Challenge orientations, typologies, and viability for cities," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    3. Yuyang Mao & Yu Li & Xinlu Bai & Xiaolu Yang & Youting Han & Xin Fu, 2024. "Scenario-Based Green Infrastructure Installations for Building Urban Stormwater Resilience—A Case Study of Fengxi New City, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-22, May.
    4. Jiaju Liu & Yujia Guo & Jingyi Han & Feng Yang & Nan Shen & Fei Sun & Yanjie Wei & Peng Yuan & Jiawei Wang, 2024. "Nature-Based Solutions for Landscape Performance Evaluation—Handan Garden Expo Park’s “Clear as a Drain” Artificial Wetland as an Example," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-16, July.
    5. Andreas Tolk & Jennifer A. Richkus & F. LeRon Shults & Wesley J. Wildman, 2023. "Computational Decision Support for Socio-Technical Awareness of Land-Use Planning under Complexity—A Dam Resilience Planning Case Study," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, April.
    6. Ana Kadić & Biljana Maljković & Katarina Rogulj & Jelena Kilić Pamuković, 2025. "Green Infrastructure’s Role in Climate Change Adaptation: Summarizing the Existing Research in the Most Benefited Policy Sectors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-26, May.
    7. Chengji Shu & Kaiwei Du & Wenbo Cai & Zhengwu Cai & Li Lin, 2025. "Mapping Re-Naturalization Pathways for Urban Ecological Governance: A Spatial Decision-Support Framework Based on Ecosystem Service Valuation," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-22, April.
    8. Yonatal Tefera & Veronica Soebarto & Courtney Bishop & John Kandulu & Carmel Williams, 2023. "A Scoping Review of Urban Planning Decision Support Tools and Processes That Account for the Health, Environment, and Economic Benefits of Trees and Greenspace," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(1), pages 1-28, December.
    9. Yetondé Deton & Hodabalo Kamou & Abalo Atato & Bimare Kombate & Abalo Mabafei & Josef Yoka & Marra Dourma & Atsu Kudzo Guelly & Komlan Batawila & Koffi Akpagana, 2025. "Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Urban Green Spaces and Climatic Vulnerability of Togolese Cities in the Context of Rapid Urbanisation: The Case of Lome and Kara," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-29, February.
    10. Melika Zarei & Sina Shahab, 2025. "Nature-Based Solutions in Urban Green Infrastructure: A Systematic Review of Success Factors and Implementation Challenges," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-26, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Charlie M. Shackleton & Patrick T. Hurley & Annika C. Dahlberg & Marla R. Emery & Harini Nagendra, 2017. "Urban Foraging: A Ubiquitous Human Practice Overlooked by Urban Planners, Policy, and Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-18, October.
    2. Kaowen Grace Chang & William C. Sullivan & Ying-Hsuan Lin & Weichia Su & Chun-Yen Chang, 2016. "The Effect of Biodiversity on Green Space Users’ Wellbeing—An Empirical Investigation Using Physiological Evidence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-15, October.
    3. Bin Xue & Bingsheng Liu & Tao Liang & Dong Zhao & Tao Wang & Xingbin Chen, 2022. "A heterogeneous decision criteria system evaluating sustainable infrastructure development: From the lens of multidisciplinary stakeholder engagement," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 556-579, August.
    4. Mugido, Worship & Shackleton, Charlie M., 2019. "The contribution of NTFPS to rural livelihoods in different agro-ecological zones of South Africa," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    5. Matthew Dennis & David Barlow & Gina Cavan & Penny A. Cook & Anna Gilchrist & John Handley & Philip James & Jessica Thompson & Konstantinos Tzoulas & C. Philip Wheater & Sarah Lindley, 2018. "Mapping Urban Green Infrastructure: A Novel Landscape-Based Approach to Incorporating Land Use and Land Cover in the Mapping of Human-Dominated Systems," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-25, January.
    6. Manoj Sharma & Erin Largo-Wight & Amar Kanekar & Hana Kusumoto & Stephanie Hooper & Vinayak K. Nahar, 2020. "Using the Multi-Theory Model (MTM) of Health Behavior Change to Explain Intentional Outdoor Nature Contact Behavior among College Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-12, August.
    7. Milad Asadi & Amir Oshnooei-Nooshabadi & Samira-Sadat Saleh & Fattaneh Habibnezhad & Sonia Sarafraz-Asbagh & John Lodewijk Van Genderen, 2022. "Urban Sprawl Simulation Mapping of Urmia (Iran) by Comparison of Cellular Automata–Markov Chain and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Modeling Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-16, November.
    8. Alexandra Titz & Sosten S. Chiotha, 2019. "Pathways for Sustainable and Inclusive Cities in Southern and Eastern Africa through Urban Green Infrastructure?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-27, May.
    9. Joos-Vandewalle, S. & Wynberg, R. & Alexander, K.A., 2018. "Dependencies on natural resources in transitioning urban centers of northern Botswana," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 30(PC), pages 342-349.
    10. Muhammad Abdul Aziz & Giulia Mattalia & Naji Sulaiman & Adnan Ali Shah & Zbynek Polesny & Raivo Kalle & Renata Sõukand & Andrea Pieroni, 2024. "The nexus between traditional foraging and its sustainability: a qualitative assessment among a few selected Eurasian case studies," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(12), pages 29813-29838, December.
    11. Tian Gao & Rui Song & Ling Zhu & Ling Qiu, 2019. "What Characteristics of Urban Green Spaces and Recreational Activities Do Self-Reported Stressed Individuals Like? A Case Study of Baoji, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-16, April.
    12. Karen T. Lourdes & Chris N. Gibbins & Perrine Hamel & Ruzana Sanusi & Badrul Azhar & Alex M. Lechner, 2021. "A Review of Urban Ecosystem Services Research in Southeast Asia," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-21, January.
    13. María Julieta Arias & Pablo Andrés Vaschetto & Mercedes Marchese & Luciana Regaldo & Ana María Gagneten, 2022. "Benthic Macroinvertebrates and Zooplankton Communities as Ecological Indicators in Urban Wetlands of Argentina," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-21, March.
    14. Wandicleia Lopes Sousa & Thiago Almeida Vieira, 2022. "An Amazonian lake and the quality of life of its women: the case of Maicá, Santarém, Brazil (2018)," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1428-1444, January.
    15. Lee Roberts & Monomita Nandy & Abeer Hassan & Suman Lodh & Ahmed A. Elamer, 2022. "Corporate Accountability Towards Species Extinction Protection: Insights from Ecologically Forward-Thinking Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 571-595, July.
    16. Mário Santos & Helena Moreira & João Alexandre Cabral & Ronaldo Gabriel & Andreia Teixeira & Rita Bastos & Alfredo Aires, 2022. "Contribution of Home Gardens to Sustainable Development: Perspectives from A Supported Opinion Essay," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-26, October.
    17. Elisabeth M. Hamin & Yaser Abunnasr & Max Roman Dilthey & Pamela K. Judge & Melissa A. Kenney & Paul Kirshen & Thomas C. Sheahan & Don J. DeGroot & Robert L. Ryan & Brain G. McAdoo & Leonard Nurse & J, 2018. "Pathways to Coastal Resiliency: The Adaptive Gradients Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-20, July.
    18. Sai Hu & Longqian Chen & Long Li & Bingyi Wang & Lina Yuan & Liang Cheng & Ziqi Yu & Ting Zhang, 2019. "Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Ecosystem Service Value Determined by Land-Use Changes in the Urbanization of Anhui Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-18, December.
    19. Dong, Yuxiang & Liu, Song & Pei, Xinsheng & Wang, Ying, 2025. "Spatially explicit multi-objective optimization tool for green infrastructure planning based on InVEST and NSGA-II towards multifunctionality," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    20. Deepa Moni Doley & Paramananda Barman, 2023. "Importance of communicating biodiversity for sustainable wildlife management: a review," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 13(2), pages 321-329, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:415-:d:1057718. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.