The Green Blueprint : designing future cities with urban green infrastructure and ecosystem services in the UK

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Butt, Anosh Nadeem and Rigoni, Carolina (2025) The Green Blueprint : designing future cities with urban green infrastructure and ecosystem services in the UK. Land, 14 (6). 1306. ISSN 2073-445X (https://doi.org/10.3390/land14061306)

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Abstract

Urbanisation in the context of climate change and rapid population growth presents an urgent need for innovative and sustainable urban planning. This study introduces the Green Blueprint, an original, spatially grounded, and evidence-informed conceptual framework designed to systematically embed ecosystem services into the planning, governance, and design of resilient and equitable cities in the United Kingdom. Unlike existing research that typically treats Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) as a discrete intervention or evaluates its benefits in isolation, the Green Blueprint integrates cross-sectoral governance, multifunctional land use, and participatory planning into a coherent, scalable model for urban resilience. Developed through a qualitative, interpretivist methodology and critical documentary analysis of secondary data including policy documents, academic literature, and case studies from London, Manchester, and Sheffield, this framework highlights how embedding ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, stormwater management, biodiversity enhancement, and public health into the urban fabric can support long-term climate adaptation and social equity. Rather than serving as a review, this paper advances a novel theoretical contribution through empirical synthesis and thematic cross-case comparison. It further identifies enabling governance structures and implementation pathways to support policy innovation and practical application. This study contributes a transferable planning template for cities aiming to achieve systemic UGI integration, offering clear value for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers engaged in sustainable urban development in the Anthropocene.

ORCID iDs

Butt, Anosh Nadeem ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9662-9473 and Rigoni, Carolina ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4661-5970;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)