Urban Green Infrastructure as a Strategy to Address Urban Energy Efficiency and Sustainability. A Case Study of Milagrosa (Pamplona)

Abstract

Green Infrastructure (GI) has gained importance in recent years as it has been revealed as an essential piece to face the environmental problem generated by the incessant growth of urbanization, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. In this vein, the results of a research aimed at investigating the challenges posed by the implementation of the GI in the usual compact urban spaces in the cities of the Mediterranean area are presented, based on the analysis of indicators on green spaces in the Spanish city of Pamplona. A comparative analysis of the indicators (green spaces and trees) in the city’s neighbourhoods using GIS tools reveals the high intra-urban inequalities as well as the existence of, particularly, underfunded areas. The morphological analysis of one of the underfunded spaces (La Milagrosa neighbourhood) also shows that the narrowness of the road and the shortage of green spaces constitute obstacles that must be addressed from the planning tools of the GI. The results allow us to reflect on the importance of the scale of analysis in the planning processes of the UGI (Urban Green Infrastructure) and on neighbourhood the suitability of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as an alternative for the design and implementation of the UGI.

Towards a Sustainable Design: Integrating Spatial Planning with Energy Planning When Designing a University Campus

“…A green infrastructure approach guides planning beyond simply applying the modern technique of thoughts and practices. It comprises a revolution in how spatial planning systems are organized and perceived by specialists [29].…”

“…The data and numerical analysis confirm that the campus design maximizes the renewable energy potential by focusing on energy production to achieve the integrated scheme given by spatial planning. Renewable energy at Zarqa University, known as the Zarqa solar farm [29], can be considered a successful project for electric power generation where the generated energy reaches 2 MW. The project was established in 2016 on an area of 19 km 2 ; it includes 7560 photovoltaic panels (250 watts of nominal power per panel).…”

Combined Greening Strategies for Improved Results on Carbon-Neutral Urban Policies

“…NBSs are an excellent approach to urban climate resilience [10]. However, their effect can be enhanced by tuning climate variables with the buildings' response to them for a joint contribution to the neighbourhood energy balance [11]. Joint impact assessment of urban development strategies should consider the combined contribution on climate mitigation from street-level physical climate parameters and their influence at the micro level on building performance.…”