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ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS AND CASE STUDIES: Advancing Green Infrastructure at All Scales: From Landscape to Site

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2012

William L. Allen III
William L. Allen III*
Affiliation:
Director of Strategic Conservation, The Conservation Fund, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
*
William L. Allen III, Director of Strategic Conservation, The Conservation Fund, 410 Market Street, Suite 360, Chapel Hill, NC 27516; (phone) 919-967-2248; (fax) 919-967-9702; (e-mail) wallen@conservationfund.org
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Abstract

Over the past decade, green infrastructure has evolved from a novel buzzword into a recognized planning practice. Definitions of green infrastructure inevitably have been tailored to appeal to diverse constituents with message points that address a particular professional discipline or resource issue. Commonly accepted definitions emphasize the interconnected network concept and are mostly differentiated by the scale at which green infrastructure planning is implemented. This commentary lays out an operational framework for green infrastructure that can be advanced at all scales, from the largest landscape to the smallest site, and illustrates examples of operationalizing the framework at each scale. What is ultimately needed is a seamless quilt of planning and implementation across scales and jurisdictional boundaries that make sense in terms of their benefits but also in terms of their economics, and every one can play a part in making that a reality in their communities.

Environmental Practice 14:17–25 (2012)

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Type
Features
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Environmental Practice , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 17 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © National Association of Environmental Professionals 2012

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