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Hayriye Eşbah Tunçay

amount of water flows through streams or wetlands dry out. As a result of the
increase in impermeable surfaces that result in the rise in water flow through
rivers, streams whose natural structure is disrupted are exposed to increased
erosion. Moreover, all kinds of materials are carried to the seas, which harms
animals and plants in both land and water ecosystems. In the relationship
between our cities and nature, to prevent and avoid the problems mentioned
above, there is need for providing cities with green infrastructure network,
which is a nature-based approach (Mostafavi and Doherty, 2016). To this end,
in 1987, Brundlant report was issued and sustainable development goals were
stated, followed by the green infrastructure approach emerging in the US in
the early 2000s.
Green infrastructure provides a wide range of social, economic and
ecosystem services through holistically combining strategically planned
and designed natural and semi-natural components and by reducing the
dependency of cities on gray infrastructure (Eşbah, 2021). Green infrastructure
planning, which should be handled in a disciplined manner, is not properly
included in the planning hierarchy in our country. There are a lot of guidelines
and planning studies on the issue around the world (EPA, 2012).
Green infrastructure practices are discussed in EU policies as an
important mechanism in reaching the goals set concerning the issues such
as biodiversity, regional development, climate change, urban resilience,
agriculture, forestry and environment. Nature-based solutions and green
infrastructure are referred in EU policies as a strategy that can contribute to
a variety of fields within the EU 2050 Growth Strategy Natura 2000 program
forms the scaffolding of EU Green Infrastructure system (EC, 2021). As climate
change has recently been discussed in relation to water, the system is also
referred to as the green and blue infrastructure (Perini and Sabbion, 2016).
The green infrastructure planning principles in literature can be listed as
developing long term strategies within the framework of multifunctionality,
connectedness, integration with other infrastructures, participatory process,
and sustainable development concepts (Gülgün and Yazıcı, 2016). As part of
green infrastructure is a planning and design approach that forms connections
between hydrological links and processes, ecological services, and much
more (Benedict and McMahon, 2006). As part of the connectedness principle,
which forms the basis for landscape ecology, green infrastructure spreads the
green areas at different scales around the city as a sustainable network (Figure
1). In other words, it builds the connection between build environment and
ecological environment.

45 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate