Urban Planning and Nature: Parametric Modelling as a Tool for Responsive Greening of Cities

Using advanced parametric computational tools – and considering variables such as the size of urban areas, their population and recommended indicators of amount of green space and its proximity to residents – this paper proposes an approach to simulate optimum urban morphologies based on the application of defined large-scale green planning models such as the green belt, green wedges and hybrid approaches. Parallel patterns of growth and shrinkage have marked cities in the last decades. Furthermore, planning cities for climate-change related events and social transitions is a pressing action. Yet, while there has been an upsurge of research on the beneficial effects of green spaces and their efficient planning and implementation in cities, explorations regarding standard-based spatial simulation and modelling of future green scenarios need further research. This paper first contextualises current processes of urban and landscape transformations. Secondly, it defines the parameters used in the model and assesses the performance of selected green planning models. Finally, it shows how the proposed computational approach could become an effective quantitative tool for improving the processes of envisioning future sustainable and re-natured urban environments.