Planning the “unknown”: Perception of urban green infrastructure concept in Romania

Abstract Urban areas are under constant pressure, owing to population growth and societal challenges. The higher perceived quality of life characterising urban areas is beginning to decrease, owing to changes in environmental quality, security levels, employment, and public health. Urban planning must adapt to overcome these challenges. The urban green infrastructure (UGI) approach aims to mitigate the effects of climate change and environmental degradation, and to improve the overall quality of urban life by providing a wide variety of ecosystem services. While the UGI concept has been presented as successfully implemented in some European and North American countries, for other cities the struggle continues. Our study presents the results of a perception analysis for three groups of stakeholders in Romania: citizens, public authorities, and economic agents. We sent 970 questionnaires to our targeted groups, of which 300 were validated for further processing. We determined the knowledge levels on the UGI concept, and the main challenges these actors have in planning and managing this type of infrastructure. Our results emphasise that the UGI concept is considered nothing more than a modern reinterpretation of green spaces, and the development of such urban features is considered an unnecessary expenditure for local budgets Available and unbuilt land is being considered more suited for real estate development. While citizens and public authorities acknowledge the benefits of UGI, our findings raise a red flag over the urgency to bridge the gap between the scientific community and urban practitioners, for the latter to further concentrate on planning and developing these kind of networks within the urban settlements.