AUC GEOGRAPHICA

The concept of Green Infrastructure (GI) bridges spatial planning, ecology, and social sciences, yet its application in geography is often hindered by conceptual ambiguity and disciplinary fragmentation. This study aims to synthesize these fragmented perspectives into a robust geographical framework. We employed a hybrid review methodology, combining a systematic search with a qualitative thematic synthesis of 106 core studies published between 2000 and 2025. Our analysis categorizes the existing literature into five distinct thematic pillars – ranging from conceptual definitions and ecosystem benefits to critical governance challenges-demonstrating that these domains often operate in isolation. The analysis reveals that contemporary GI research is characterized by a “paradox of sophistication”: while methods for measuring ecosystem services are advanced, they are applied within a narrow geographical scope, overlooking the Global South and failing to integrate critical social dimensions. In response, we introduce the Form-Process-Power framework. This model integrates the physical configuration of green spaces (Form), their dynamic ecological and social functions (Process), and the political economies determining their distribution (Power). By systematically linking these dimensions, the proposed framework provides geographers and planners with a comprehensive tool to address the complexities of urban resilience and environmental justice.

1. Addas, A. (2023): Influence of Urban Green Spaces on Quality of Life and Health with Smart City Design. Land 12(5): 960. CrossRef

2. Angelo, H. (2021): How green became good: Urbanized nature and the making of cities and citizens; University of Chicago Press: Chicago, USA. CrossRef

3. Borges, J. G., Marques, S., Garcia-Gonzalo, J., Rahman, A. U., Bushenkov, V., Sottomayor, M., Carvalho, P. O., Nordström, E. M. (2017): A multiple criteria approach for negotiating ecosystem services supply targets and forest owners' programs. Forest Science 63(1), 49-61. CrossRef

4. Camacho-Cervantes, M., Schondube, J. E., Castillo, A., MacGregor-Fors, I. (2014): How do people perceive urban trees? Assessing likes and dislikes in relation to the trees of a city. Urban Ecosystems 17, 761-773. CrossRef

5. Chatzimentor, A., Apostolopoulou, E., Mazaris, A. D. (2020): A review of green infrastructure research in Europe: Challenges and opportunities. Landscape and Urban Planning 198: 103775. CrossRef

6. Daniel, J., Jirmus, R. (2023): Becoming a park: The assemblage of Olomouc parks in the 19th and first half of the 20th century. Geografie 128(4), 459-481. CrossRef

7. Dobšinská, Z., Šálka, J., Urbančík, J. M., Sedmak, R., Bahýľ, J., Čerňava, J., Kropil, R. (2025): How can science solve forest management problems in urban forests? A case study of Bratislava Forest District. Landscape and Urban Planning 104: 128630. CrossRef

8. Eisenberg, B., Polcher, V. (2019): Nature based solutions - technical handbook; UNaLab, University of Stuttgart: Stuttgart, Germany.

9. Escobedo, F. J., Giannico, V., Jim, C. Y., Sanesi, G., Lafortezza, R. (2019): Urban forests, ecosystem services, green infrastructure and nature-based solutions: Nexus or evolving metaphors? Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 37, 3-12. CrossRef

10. Fang, X., Li, J., Ma, Q. (2023): Integrating green infrastructure, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions for urban sustainability: A comprehensive literature review. Sustainable Cities and Society 98: 104843. CrossRef

11. Ghofrani, Z., Sposito, V., Faggian, R. (2017): A comprehensive review of blue-green infrastructure concepts. International Journal of Environment and Sustainability 6(1), 15-36. CrossRef

12. Green, D., O'Donnell, E., Johnson, M., Slater, L., Thorne, C., Zheng, S., Stirling, R., Chan, F. K. S., Li, L., Boothroyd, R. J. (2021): Green infrastructure: The future of urban flood risk management? WIREs Water 8(6): e1560. CrossRef

13. Grilli, G., Mohan, G., Curtis, J. (2020): Public park attributes, park visits, and associated health status. Landscape and Urban Planning 199: 103814. CrossRef

14. Haddaway, N. R., Collins, A. M., Coughlin, D., Kirk, S. (2015): The Role of Google Scholar in Evidence Reviews and Its Applicability to Grey Literature Searching. PloS One, 10(9): e0138237. CrossRef PubMed

15. Helbich, M., Yao, Y., Liu, Y., Zhang, J., Liu, P., Wang, R. (2019): Using deep learning to examine street view green and blue spaces and their associations with geriatric depression in Beijing, China. Environment International 126, 107-117. CrossRef PubMed PubMed Central

16. Honeck, E., Sanguet, A., Schlaepfer, M. A., Wyler, N., Lehmann, A. (2020): Methods for identifying green infrastructure. SN Applied Sciences 2: 1916. CrossRef

17. Hurley, P. T., Emery, M. R., McLain, R., Poe, M., Grabbatin, B., Goetcheus, C. L. (2015): Whose Urban Forest? The Political Ecology of Foraging Urban Nontimber Forest Products. In Isenhour, C., McDonogh, G., Checker, M. (Eds.), Sustainability in the Global City: Myth and Practice. New Directions in Sustainability and Society; Cambridge University Press: New York, pp. 187-212. CrossRef

18. Iungman, T., Cirach, M., Marando, F., Barboza, E. P., Khomenko, S., Masselot, P., Quijal-Zamorano, M., Mueller, N., Gasparrini, A., Urquiza, J., Heris, M., Thondoo, M., Nieuwenhuijsen, M. (2023): Cooling cities through urban green infrastructure: a health impact assessment of European cities. The Lancet 401(10376), 577-589. CrossRef

19. Jansson, M., Mårtensson, F., Gunnarsson, A. (2018): The meaning of participation in school ground greening: a study from project to everyday setting. Landscape Research 43(1), 163-179. CrossRef

20. Jim, C. Y., Chen, S. S. (2003): Comprehensive greenspace planning based on landscape ecology principles in compact Nanjing city, China. Landscape and Urban Planning 65(3), 95-116. CrossRef

21. Jo, J. H., Golden, J. S., Shin, S. W. (2009): Incorporating built environment factors into climate change mitigation strategies for Seoul, South Korea: A sustainable urban systems framework. Habitat International 33(3), 267-275. CrossRef

22. Knobel, P., Dadvand, P., Maneja-Zaragoza, R. (2019): A systematic review of multi-dimensional quality assessment tools for urban green spaces. Health & Place 59: 102198. CrossRef PubMed

23. Kowarik, I., Fischer, L. K., Haase, D., Kabisch, N., Kleinschroth, F., Konijnendijk, C., … von Haaren, C. (2025): Promoting urban biodiversity for the benefit of people and nature. Nature Reviews Biodiversity 1, 1-19. CrossRef

24. Lehnert, M., Brabec, M., Jurek, M., Tokar, V., Geletič, J. (2021): The role of blue and green infrastructure in thermal sensation in public urban areas: a case study of summer days in four Czech cities. Sustainable Cities and Society 66: 102683. CrossRef

25. Lehnert, M., Jirmus, R., Květoňová, V., Geletič, J., Jurek, M., Středová, H., Frajer, J. (2024): Overheated children's playgrounds in Central European cities: The effects of surfaces and shading on thermal exposure during hot summer days. Urban Climate 55: 101873. CrossRef

26. Lepczyk, C. A., Aronson, M. F., Evans, K. L., Goddard, M. A., Lerman, S. B., MacIvor, J. S. (2017): Biodiversity in the City: Fundamental Questions for Understanding the Ecology of Urban Green Spaces for Biodiversity Conservation. BioScience 67(9), 799-807. CrossRef

27. Long, H. (2022): Theorizing land use transitions: A human geography perspective. Habitat International 128: 102669. CrossRef

28. Ma, X., Tian, Y., Du, M., Hong, B., Lin, B. (2021): How to design comfortable open spaces for the elderly? Implications of their thermal perceptions in an urban park. Science of The Total Environment 768: 144985. CrossRef PubMed

29. Malecki, E. J. (2010): Everywhere? The Geography of Knowledge. Journal of Regional Science 50(1), 493-513. CrossRef

30. Maryani, E., Safari, A., Riyanti, A., Mulyana, H. (2023): Green open space (GOS) in the form of a city park as a population's recreation place and their references on the thematic park in Bandung City. In International Conference on Responsible Tourism and Hospitality (ICRTH) 2022, pp. 124-128.

31. Matthews, T., Lo, A. Y., Byrne, J. A. (2015): Reconceptualizing green infrastructure for climate change adaptation: Barriers to adoption and drivers for uptake by spatial planners. Landscape and Urban Planning 138, 155-163. CrossRef

32. Morakinyo, T. E., Lam, Y. F. (2016): Simulation study on the impact of tree-configuration, planting pattern and wind condition on street-canyon's micro-climate and thermal comfort. Building and Environment 103, 262-275. CrossRef

33. Nesshöver, C., Assmuth, T., Irvine, K. N., Rusch, G. M., Waylen, K. A., Delbaere, B., Haase, D., Jones-Walters, L., Keune, H., Kovacs, E., Krauze, K., Külvik, M., Rey, F., van Dijk, J., Vistad, O. I., Wilkinson, M. E., Wittmer, H. (2017): The science, policy and practice of nature-based solutions: An interdisciplinary perspective. Science of the Total Environment 579, 1215-1227. CrossRef PubMed

34. Nicholls, S. (2001): Measuring the accessibility and equity of public parks: A case study using GIS. Managing Leisure 6(4), 201-219. CrossRef

35. Nordbø, E. C. A., Nordh, H., Raanaas, R. K., Aamodt, G. (2018): GIS-derived measures of the built environment determinants of mental health and activity participation in childhood and adolescence: A systematic review. Landscape and Urban Planning 177, 19-37. CrossRef

36. Norton, B. A., Evans, K. L., Warren, P. H. (2016): Urban Biodiversity and Landscape Ecology: Patterns, Processes and Planning. Current Landscape Ecology Reports 1(4), 178-192. CrossRef

37. Oliveira, S., Andrade, H., Vaz, T. (2011): The cooling effect of green spaces as a contribution to the mitigation of urban heat: A case study in Lisbon. Building and Environment 46(11), 2186-2194. CrossRef

38. Shahtahmassebi, A. R., Li, C., Fan, Y., Wu, Y., Lin, Y., Gan, M., Wang, K., Malik, A., Blackburn, G. A. (2021): Remote sensing of urban green spaces: A review. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 57: 126946. CrossRef

39. Sharifi, F., Levin, I., Stone, W. M., Nygaard, A. (2021): Green space and subjective well-being in the Just City: A scoping review. Environmental Science & Policy 120, 118-126. CrossRef

40. Shukla, P. R., Skea, J., Calvo Buendia, E., Masson-Delmotte, V., Pörtner, H.-O., Roberts, D. C., Zhai, P., Slade, R., Connors, S., van Diemen, R., Ferrat, M., Haughey, E., Luz, S., Neogi, S., Pathak, M., Petzold, J., Portugal Pereira, J., Vyas, P., Huntley, E., Kissick, K., Belkacemi, M., Malley, J. (Eds.) (2019): Climate change and land: An IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems; IPCC: Geneva, Switzerland.

41. Shuvo, F. K., Feng, X., Akaraci, S., Astell-Burt, T. (2020): Urban green space and health in low and middle-income countries: A critical review. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 52: 126662. CrossRef

42. Siddaway, A. P., Wood, A. M., Hedges, L. V. (2019): How to Do a Systematic Review: A Best Practice Guide for Conducting and Reporting Narrative Reviews, Meta-Analyses, and Meta-Syntheses. Annual Review of Psychology 70(1), 747-770. CrossRef PubMed

43. Smreček, R. (2013): Inventarizácia mestskej zelene z dát leteckého laserového skenovania. In GIS Ostrava 2013: Sborník příspěvků z konference; VŠB - Technická univerzita Ostrava: Ostrava, Czechia, pp. 167-189.

44. Stuiver, M. (Ed.) (2022): The symbiotic city: Voices of nature in urban transformations; Wageningen Academic Publishers: Wageningen, The Netherlands, 300 p. CrossRef

45. Sun, Y., Xie, S., Zhao, S. (2019): Valuing urban green spaces in mitigating climate change: A city‐wide estimate of aboveground carbon stored in urban green spaces of China's Capital. Global Change Biology 25(5), 1717-1732. CrossRef PubMed

46. Supuka, J., Šinka, K., Pucherová, Z., Verešová, M., Feriancová, Ľ., Bihuňová, M., Kuczman, G. (2013): Landscape structure and biodiversity of woody plants in the agricultural landscape; Mendel University in Brno: Brno, Czechia, 187 p.

47. Taha, F. (2023): Urban geography: A discourse analysis of the literature on green infrastructure and nature-based solutions in Portland, OR. Doctoral dissertation, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA.

48. Wang, C., Ren, Z., Dong, Y., Zhang, P., Guo, Y., Wang, W., Bao, G. (2022): Efficient cooling of cities at global scale using urban green space to mitigate urban heat island effects in different climatic regions. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 74: 127635. CrossRef

49. Weerasuriya, R., Henderson-Wilson, C., Townsend, M. (2019): A systematic review of access to green spaces in healthcare facilities. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 40, 125-132. CrossRef

50. Wu, J., Plantinga, A. J. (2003): The influence of public open space on urban spatial structure. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 46(2), 288-309. CrossRef

51. Ying, J., Zhang, X., Zhang, Y., Bilan, S. (2022): Green infrastructure: systematic literature review. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja 35(1), 343-366. CrossRef