MSPA-Based Urban Green Infrastructure Planning and Management Approach for Urban Sustainability: Case Study of Longgang in China

In China, rapid city expansion and the consequent loss and fragmentation of green spaces presents a major challenge for urban planners wanting to maintain urban sustainability. The aim of this paper is to formulate a workable framework to plan and manage urban green infrastructure for urban sustainability through a case study of Longgang, a typical developed area in China. Urban green infrastructure is associated with various landscape types, which have different functional niches in a UGI network. By integrating morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) into landscape ecological principles based on a geographic information system, the functional niches of landscapes were defined as core areas, connectors, islets, and three levels of potential connectors. Then a future urban green infrastructure scenario with hierarchical hubs, links, and sites was delineated. Finally, by contrasting the plan scenario and the basic ecological control line (BECL) of Longgang, some focus areas for management strategies were proposed. With this approach, green infrastructure elements are preserved first in a given region, and new greening element locations and adaptive measures are emphasized. It is hoped that this framework could be used to promote the spatial navigation of urban green-space system planning and urban sustainability in China. (C) 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.