One of the major challenges of the political system today is the environmental crisis, resulting from continuous events of environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, degradation of ecosystems, destruction of biodiversity and other destructive development practices. Political agenda is responding to the listed challenges with incentive programs for sustainable living in harmony with environmental capacities. Green Infrastructure is the tool for creating natural solutions with ecological, economic and social benefits, particularly important in urban and urbanizing landscapes to promote sustainable growth and mitigate the loss of ecosystem services and biodiversity. Urban green infrastructure seeks to develop a network of green and blue urban areas designed and managed to address climate change adaptation, biodiversity protection, green economy and social cohesion. With the emphasis on the theoretical background, the aim of the thesis is to give a sufficiently detailed picture of the urban green infrastructure and its defining characteristics, to explore its involvement in urban spatial planning of the capital cities of Estonia, Finland and Slovenia and describe examples of good practice focusing on identifying the challenges and opportunities of the dealt concept in other urban settings.
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