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Volume XVII |

Indicators for evaluating the role of green infrastructures in sustainable urban development in Romania

Abstract: Urban green infrastructures are now considered key elements in improving residents’ quality of life and creating an appropriate framework for the development of sustainable cities. One of the most efficient method to evaluate the state and performance of urban green infrastructure is using different types of indicators. The indicators for evaluating the benefits, ecosystem services and the role of green infrastructures for the process of sustainable development represent important tools for decision and policy makers. Indicators provide information that can be easily interpreted by decision and policy makers and they facilitate the process of planning, monitoring and evaluation of green infrastructure in urban areas. The focus of our study is to establish which indicators are used for underlining the structural and functional diversity of urban green infrastructures. This paper aims to highlight the indicators and indices being used in Romanian urban areas for measuring their sustainability that include green infrastructures, in the wider understanding of the concept. Throughout the paper, different examples of indicators and indices are provided, emphasizing that by using the proper set of indicators and indices, city authorities can tag a sustainable development label for certain areas. However, an unbiased assessment using some sets of indicators and indices are not always providing unbiased or realistic outcomes.