Urban growth and greening goals for sustainable development

As part of the transformation and qualifying processes of cities and territories, considering the challenges posed by climate change and the ecological transition in progress, the need to define new methods for sustainable urban planning capable of analyzing, evaluating, and managing the complex relationship between urban growth and greening processes to guarantee adequate levels of urban liveability and sustainability has emerged in an increasingly evident way.
The volume deals with the complex relationship between urban growth and urban greening processes. After the analysis of the state-of-the-art on the topics of urban growth and greening processes and the innovative methods and tools employed in urban planning to pursue this purpose, an innovative methodological approach based on innovative information technologies and advanced geospatial analysis techniques for assessing and managing urban growth and greening processes is defined. The proposed methodological approach is applied to specific case studies demonstrating that this approach can be employed by planners to make informed decisions regarding the evaluation and management of urban growth and greening processes to make these processes truly sustainable.
The analyses and experiments led within the volume bring out the need for flexible, innovative, and integrated approaches that appropriately direct the urban and territorial planning decision-making processes for achieving sustainable development.

Carolina Salvo, civil engineer and Ph.D. student in urban planning at the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Calabria, carries out her research on sustainable urban planning, the techniques and tools for urban and territorial planning, and the use of information technologies in urban and territorial planning processes.