Achieving efficiency, effectiveness and equity. The Role of Aesthetic Services in Implementing Urban Green Infrastructure.

Sonja Gantioler

Abstract: The concept of Green Infrastructure has been introduced into urban planning to underline the importance of biodiversity in delivering ecosystem services for urban quality of life, including aesthetic services. Following Plato’s notion of “aesthetic” places being “good” places, research increasingly looks into the strong intertwinement between benefits received from ecosystems and aesthetic (dis)pleasures, the latter also strongly influencing people’s engagement with an environment. As such, aesthetic services are likely key in ensuring efficiency, effectiveness and equity in the planning of urban Green Infrastructure. However, the question remains what criteria to use to judge them.
 It is the main hypothesis of the study that aesthetic services provided by urban Green Infrastructure are substantially impacted by the built environment in which it is embedded, due to the likely pleasures it satisfies or the displeasures it creates. Planning thus needs to carefully consider not only its natural, semi-natural and environmental features but also surrounding qualities linked to buildings, densities, road infrastructure and property rights. The thesis will explore potential correlations by developing a catalogue of relevant criteria, defining their relative importance and weighting through discussion in a citizen panel, testing the catalogue on the field and verifying through perception surveys.