Methodological framework for urban sprawl control through sustainable planning of urban green infrastructure

Urban sprawl is a significant challenge in urban areas and its negative influence on the quality of living confronts the scientific community, authorities, and stakeholders in identifying solutions to mitigate or minimize this trend. Vacant lands are common in the urban landscape, particularly in sprawling cities. In this paper, we hypothesized that by increasing the attractivity of urban vacant land through urban green space development, residential development will intensify within the city boundaries, enhancing the concept of a compact city as opposed to urban sprawl and simultaneously negating urban densification. Planning new urban green spaces increases the efficiency of the urban green infrastructure and provides ecosystem services. We used analytical hierarchy processes to determine criteria to be deemed necessary when planning new urban green spaces. We also determined the suitability of 27 types of green spaces being part of an urban green infrastructure and assessed green areas recommendations for five urban zones. Finally, we identified available vacant land for potential future urban green spaces in Ploiesti, Romania. Our results have demonstrated that criteria such as biodiversity conservation, climate change regulation, and air quality improvement are to be adopted when planning new urban green spaces. Natural features are to be included, thus urban forests, transitional ecosystem, or local natural reserves are suitable in providing the desired ecosystem services in urban areas. Land availability assessments disclosed the locations and areas of presently available tracks. The proposed methodological framework provides a valuable approach to urban green space planning in the context of urban sprawl in the cities.