Eco-cities: The Role of Networks of Green and Blue Spaces

The chapter analyzes how networks of green and blue spaces are being used in the design of new eco-cities. These projects aim to define a new city typology, create models of sustainable development that would contribute to the resolution of the global need for more urban spaces, increase well-being and decrease ecological footprint. In this regard, green and blue infrastructures are playing fundamental roles in current eco-city design. Initially, the text presents our contemporary urban challenges, the emergence of the idea of the eco-city and the new meanings that networks of green and blue spaces are acquiring. Four recent case studies are analyzed and compared in order to draw conclusions on the significance of these systems of open space in the construction of a theory and practice of eco-city design.