ABSTRACT
The breadth of approaches taken to investment in green infrastructure planning in Europe raises the question of whether such a concept can be successfully integrated within so many alternative planning cultures. However, despite the variation in praxis we can identify a number of locations, such as Copenhagen (Denmark), Malmö (Sweden) or Berlin (Germany), where the principles of green infrastructure have been used to support government-led, as well as locally defined, investment in landscape projects (Andersson et al., 2014; Beatley, 2000; Lachmund, 2013; Sandström, 2002). A review of how green infrastructure is planned across Europe highlights how planners have blended contemporary design with more traditional approaches to landscape and urban planning. Therefore, through a series of city-wide assessments, including the meta-level European-scale evaluations such as COST Action C11 (Werquin et al., 2005) and the recent Green Surge review of 20 European cities (Hansen et al., 2015), we can illustrate how green infrastructure projects have been implemented to address climate change mitigation, sustainable transport initiatives, more innovative urban design and socio-economic needs across urban areas (Beatley, 2012; European Commission, 2011; South Yorkshire Forest Partnership & Sheffield City Council, 2012; Zmelik et al., 2011).
