Possibilities for the management of urban greenways in developing countries

Cigüt, Tomaž (author), Rebernik, Dejan (mentor), Nikšič, Matej (comentor), Lah, Oliver (comentor)

Urban centres represent areas where the majority of the world’s population resides, and an estimate is that by 2050 around 68% of the world’s population will be residing in large urban centres around the world. These areas are also the ones with the largest environmental impact and the highest share of greenhouse gas emissions. Of all urban greenhouse gas emissions, urban transport-related emissions represent a significant portion of roughly 18%. Moreover, urban transport takes up a significant part of urban space; it negatively affects urban air quality and the health of urban residents, and it impacts their movement and social patterns. There is thus a need to redesign and transform the way urban mobility functions, with a greater role of active modes of mobility. This master's thesis, titled »Possibilities for the management of urban greenways in developing countries” or »Možnosti urejanja urbanih zelenih poti v državah v razvoju«, explores how this could be achieved through the implementation of urban greenways as a type of infrastructure that accommodates active modes of mobility. In the thesis, practices in planning and designing urban greenways for active mobility in different parts of the world are reviewed. Through a literature review, historical development of greenways and green areas in cities are reviewed, and benefits of urban greenways and the potentials of urban greenways for the advancement of active mobility are analysed and consolidated. An overview of case studies from Europe, America and Asia is represented, and a comparison between different case studies is made, with their benefits and opportunities identified. Lastly, the potentials and benefits for applying urban greenways in urban centres of developing countries, as well as potential challenges faced in doing so, are discussed, as this is where the largest population growth and the largest environmental impact are expected in the future. Urban greenways are seen as an effective method for achieving sustainable urban mobility with low- and zero- carbon emissions. As the study has shown, urban greenways have numerous benefits for their users and residents of urban areas, such as health, environmental and economic benefits. It has been identified that there are various ways to the approach of designing greenways, which allows municipalities to develop greenways based on their needs and local factors.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Urban greenways, green corridors, sustainable mobility, active mobility, sustainable cities, green cities, green urban spaces
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Year: 2022
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-138291
• Publication date in RUL: 14.07.2022

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Možnosti urejanja urbanih zelenih poti v državah v razvoju

Abstract

Urbana središča predstavljajo območja, kjer prebiva večina svetovnega prebivalstva, in napovedi nakazujejo, da bo do leta 2050 približno 68 % celotnega svetovnega prebivalstva prebivalo v velikih urbanih središčih po svetu. Ta območja imajo hkrati največji okoljski odtis in največji delež izpustov toplogrednih plinov. Od vseh urbanih toplogrednih izpustov predstavljajo izpusti, povezani z urbanim transportom, bistven delež, približno 18 %. Poleg tega urbani transport zavzema precejšen delež urbanega prostora, negativno vpliva na kakovost zraka, zdravje mestnega prebivalstva ter gibanje in družbene vzorce mestnega prebivalstva. Zaradi tega se pojavlja potreba po preoblikovanju in transformaciji urbane mobilnosti z večjo vlogo aktivnih oblik mobilnosti. V magistrskem delu smo raziskovali, kako bi to lahko bilo doseženo z implementacijo urbanih zelenih poti kot tipa infrastrukture, ki je namenjena aktivnim oblikam urbane mobilnosti. Pregledali smo različne prakse pri načrtovanju in oblikovanju urbanih zelenih poti za namen aktivne mobilnosti v različnih predelih sveta. S pomočjo pregleda literature smo raziskali zgodovinski razvoj zelenih površin in drevoredov v mestnih območjih ter koristi in potenciale urbanih zelenih poti. Pregledali smo študije primerov urbanih zelenih poti iz Evrope, Amerike in Azije ter primerjali različne primere z opredelitvijo njihovih prednosti in koristi. Kot zadnje smo raziskali tudi potenciale in koristi ter potencialne ovire pri aplikaciji urbanih zelenih poti v urbanih središčih držav v razvoju, kjer se v prihodnosti pričakujeta največja rast prebivalstva ter največji okoljski odtis. Urbane zelene poti so predpostavljene kot učinkovita metoda za doseganje trajnostne urbane mobilnosti. Študija je pokazala, da imajo urbane zelene poti veliko koristi za obiskovalce in občane urbanih območij, na primer za zdravje, okolje in ekonomijo. Ugotovili smo, da pri načrtovanju urbanih zelenih poti obstajajo zelo različni pristopi, kar mestnim občinam dopušča, da razvijejo urbane zelene poti v skladu z lastnimi potrebami in lokalnimi dejavniki.

• Keywords: Urbane zelene poti, zeleni koridorji, trajnostna mobilnost, aktivna mobilnost, trajnostna mesta, zelena mesta, zeleni urbani prostori