The role of Greenway Planning in the Integration of Urban and Rural Mediterranean landscapes. The case of Agrinio, Greece.

Greenways are corridors of protected open space that are managed for conservation and/or recreation. They link natural reserves, parks, cultural and historic sites with each other and, in some cases, with populated areas. Greenways not only protect environmentally sensitive lands and wildlife, but also can provide people with access to outdoor recreation and enjoyment close to home which is usually found in an urban environment. Connectivity is a critical landscape characteristic important to the health, well-being, and aesthetic values of human communities and vital to the maintenance of functional native ecosystems. Though the ability of greenways to "link" other resources is important, not every greenway is a connector. Some stand on their own as important linear recreational resources, like trails and bikeways. While greenways are important conservation and recreation areas in and of themselves, what sets the greenways concept apart from other initiatives is its emphasis on connections. The creation of a greenway system that initiates from the city of Agrinio, Greece and stretches up to the nearby lake of Lysimahia is being used as a case study, in order to evaluate the ability and examine the validity of greenway merits whose basis lie in connecting or linking the city with the lake via a ten kilometer path, exposing as many of the local and regional physical, historical, cultural, social and economic resources.