Urban Linear Green Infrastructure Development through Sustainable Urban Landscape Approach – Case Study: Isfahan, Iran

Mehrnoosh Rahimian (Science & Research Branch University)

Urban green infrastructure has been a popular framework for sustainable development and conservation planning. If it is proactively planned, developed and maintained in a systematical way, it also should be a better model for land use and spatial development in a city. This study hypothesized that development of the urban linear green infrastructure causes minimizing landscape connectivity loss and degradation due to the urban sprawl. By integrating a GIS-based ecological connectivity assessment with the patch-corridor-matrix model, this study provided a green infrastructure planning approach to guide the sustainable urban landscape development in Isfahan, Iran. The method has an effective performance in identifying the vital ecological areas and linkages prior to development in urban areas, and also the key sites for protection and restoration in developed sites. The study outcomes provide a practical guidance to develop an ecological network in the historical district of Isfahan. Eventually, based on study results and the practical guidance, Chahar-Bagh Abbasid street was redesigned as a walkable street through sustainable urban streetscape approach.

Keywords: Green infrastructure, ecological connectivity, sustainability, ecological network