The main purpose of the research is to obtain a multidimensional picture of the state, significance and perspectives of using the green infrastructure (GI) in planning the spatial structure, strengthening the development potential of small and medium-sized cities and improving the quality of life of their inhabitants. It should be assumed that the term GI does not yet exist in the development planning documents and in the management of the cities studied. The issues of planning and managing the green areas or, in a broader sense - open areas will appear there. Referring to the concept of GI is to emphasize that the way of identification, and especially the assessment of the share, distribution, natural and social significance of green areas will refer to its main principles. The focus of research on GI of a group of small and medium-sized cities results from complex premises. Two of them are the most important. The first refers to the current interest (researchers, politicians) in small and medium-sized cities due to their importance in the polycentric structure of Poland’s settlement network, and at the same time, the threat of depopulation and loss of function. The second premise is the lack of research - going beyond individual case studies - addressing the GI issues in the context of spatial development of those cities, impact on the quality of residents life, importance attributed to GI by city authorities and their residents. The research was divided into 4 stages, including 7 tasks. The goal of Task (1) is to develop synthetic models of the spatial structure of 264 cities (148 medium and 116 small), which takes into account distribution of the main elements of GI and characterizes socio-economic situation of studied cities. Typology of the above mentioned models and socio-economic characteristics will be used to select 20 cities (4 out of every 5 size groups, determined by the number of inhabitants), which will be subject to detailed research. Task (2) is to identify and classify available tools of GI planning and management. Task (3) is dedicated to identification and evaluation of GI resources in 20 cities and to determination to what extent the GI planning and management tools (classified in task 2) are used in them. The goal of Task (4) is to determine the policy of authorities of the examined cities in relation to GI. Task (5) consists in a summary of the results of research upon 20 cities and a selection of cities for analysis in the form of case studies. The goal of Task (6) is to identify in detail the views and expectations of residents regarding GI and GI management mechanisms, including participation of key stakeholders. Task (7) includes a summary of the research results. The designed research is interdisciplinary. Hence, there is the need to use very different research methods. Task (1) Computation of the share and spatial structure of the main areas building urban GI. A comparative analysis of the socio-economic situation of cities studied based on selected indicators. (Task (2) Literature studies, online materials, including expert opinions and case studies. Analysis of legal acts, doctrine and case law. Task (3) Studies of literature. Spatial analysis that categorizes land cover/land use elements following GI objectives, based on land use/land cover data. Detailed analysis of the connectivity of elements constituting the GI. Morphological pattern analysis of landscape configuration. Mapping of ecosystem services for the GI elements. Multicriteria Decision Analysis. A ranking of the areas providing mentioned ecosystem services will be performed using spatial Analytic Hierarchy Process. Task (4) Comparative analysis of strategic and spatial planning documents. Electronic survey addressed to city managers. Task (5) Ranking the cities based on the following criteria: a) occurrence of GI management barriers, b) main GI structural models, c) participation models and tools. Task (6) Cognitive mapping, evaluative mapping, in-depth interview Visual Preference Survey, SBE, crowdsourcing, social networking sites with space usage maps. Five focus interviews with city managers and city residents. Assessment using the PREQI index. Task (7) “Brainstorming”. The planned research will cover the areas of GI performance, which fundamentally determines its significance as a natural and social resource for cities and quality of life of their inhabitants, namely: resources, social significance, management.
(2026)
