fg
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.

Volume XV |

Spatial and temporal dynamics of human pressure within the Preajba catchment area, Romania

Abstract: This study refers to the spatio-temporal dynamics of human pressure in Preajba basin, located in the southeastern part of Craiova municipality. The statistic and cartographic analysis is based on the determination of a variety of environmental indices: index of human pressure by demographic dynamics, index of human stress through agricultural land use, naturality index, artificialization index and environmental change index. Choosing a grid of 1.5 sqkm for calculating and comparing the artificialization index of the landscape allows a concise analysis on the environmental transformation in the above-mentioned area. Complementary, temporal dynamics of the environmental indices values is highlighted by the choice of some benchmark years, i.e. 1992, 2002, 2012, 2014 to which data and recent cartographic materials from 2009 and 2014 are added. Results, materialized in the obtained values present the state of the environment and the human pressure implications on the Preajba lacustrine ecosystem (maximum values obtained at period level): physiological or agrarian density – 52 inhabitants/ha in 1992 (Craiova); human pressure index through arable – 1.4 ha/inhabitants in 1992 and 2002 (Malu Mare); naturality index of the landscape – 9.43 in 1992 (Malu Mare); environmental change index – 3.69 in 2012 (Coşoveni). Field campaigns conducted in 2015 and 2016 confirm the research results and visually support human pressure on the environment. The proposed measures, in order to stabilize and maintain the good environmental quality in the Preajba basin targets the lacustrine ecosystem by involving local authorities in order to protect the avi-faunistic natural area status of “Preajba-Făcăi Lacustrine Complex”.