Indicator-based assessment of green space in growing cities as planning tool - experiences from the Sino-German ‘Green Cities Study’

The paper introduce the Sino-German ‘Green Cities Study’. In the last decades China and Germany have experienced a rapid urbanization process caused by rural-urban migration flows, re-densification and population growth. Against this background current developments, different approaches and future challenges in the competition of green spaces and urban land consumption in China and Germany are elaborated, discussed and illustrated within case studies and good practice examples. Mainstreaming urban biodiversity and ecosystem services in urban development policies requires the establishment of adequate indicators and the integration of ecosystem services in planning systems in China and Germany.