Large Green Spaces and Urban Forests, Key Public Infrastructure for Equitable, Healthy and Sustainable Cities

Large green spaces and urban forests are the backbone of urban green infrastructure, interconnecting a complex mosaic of large and small green spaces. Furthermore, they are the prerequisites for safeguarding the health and functioning of such infrastructure in city planning. Green infrastructure include a wide set of components, from city parks, to large urban parks, urban forests and peri-urban parks plus the greenery of cemeteries, gardens, street trees etc. Special emphasis is given to the large urban parks and urban forests and their strategic role in green infrastructure planning and in city governance. At present, the pressure of land conflicts in growing cities worldwide, and particularly in industrializing and developing countries, threaten both the existence of large city parks as well as the implementation of new urban parks and forests, vital for the future quality of life of citizens. This situation is alarming and the issue tremendously urgent in view of the prospect that city population will double in the coming decades. The importance of large green spaces is viewed from different perspectives: the social (health, recreation, equitable meeting places, food supply), the ecological (biodiversity, climate mitigation) and the economic (clean water, city attractiveness, development and finances). The value of preserving heritage landscapes for the identity of the inhabitants of the city is still another important aspect. Speakers: Patrica O'Donnell, WUP, Large green spaces, key public infrastructure for equitable, health and sustainable cities, Fabio Salbitano and Giovanni Sanesi, SISEF, The strategic role of Public Green Spaces and Urban Forests in Latin America and the Caribbean for a new inclusive urban agenda, Andrew Potts, ICOMOS, Connecting natural and cultural heritage, the role of large urban parks in achieving SDG target 11.4, Jeet Mistry, WWF, Large Green Parks as Urban Solutions, Simone Borelli, FAO, Urban parks - balancing city and nature, Raquel Penalosa, IFLA, The role of a large park in a large city - the case of Montreal. Concluding the event, a set of recommendations for city planners will be presented and discussed.