Ecological functionality of open spaces and physical planning in metropolitan areas: theoretical approaches and recent experiences in the Spanish context.

Abstract

Urban areas can be perceived as ecological landscapes, in which several natural processes take place and influence the global environmental quality of the city. Urban open spaces play an important supporting role for these processes, an also act as a key factor for a harmonious urban-countryside relationship. The recognition of this environmental functionality of open spaces must lead us to change the way we conceive, study and plan urban and metropolitan areas. The concept of ecosystem services, as well as the theoretical and methodological bases provided by landscape ecology, are useful tools that can help to achieve a more sustainable approach to urban and metropolitan planning. Some recent planning experiences in Spain, like the metropolitan plans of Sevilla and Córdoba, are good examples of this ongoing process of change in the context of physical planning.