Landscape and Urban Planning 76 (2006) 1–6

Editorial

An introduction to greenway planning around the world

1. Introduction ning (vol. 68, issues 2–3) that came out in spring of
2004 (Fábos and Ryan, 2004). This special issue had
Almost a decade ago, the first special issue of Land- six authors from North America, two from Europe, and
scape and Urban Planning devoted to greenway plan- one each from Asia and Oceania. The second and fi-
ning was published (vol. 33, 1995). The special issue nal part of this special series, the current volume, de-
was edited by Julius Gy. Fábos and Jack Ahern and con- voted to international greenways contains 15 papers
tained 26 articles, primarily from North America. This that provide an even more extensive international array
special issue was reprinted in book form as Greenways: of greenway projects from five continents. One-third
The Beginning of an International Movement (Fábos of the papers are from North America, one-third from
and Ahern, 1996). Since this time, the embryonic in- Europe (Germany, Italy, Portugal and the United King-
ternational greenway movement, described in this spe- dom), and the balance from Asia, South America, and
cial, issue has become more widespread through such Africa. The greenway movement in Asia in particular
groups as the European Greenway Association and has seen explosive growth in the past decade as repre-
greenway conferences, such as the Rails-to-Trails Con- sented by papers from China (Yu et al.), Japan (Yoko-
servancy’s International Trails and Greenway Confer- hari) and Singapore (Tan). A paper by Frischenbruder
ence, Trail Link. and Pellegrino talks about the spread of greenway plan-
The current editors saw a need to document recent ning in Brazil; and Zakaria describes greenways and
innovations in greenway planning around the world and neighborhood planning in the suburbs of Cairo, Egypt.
to expand the small but growing literature on greenway Together, these two volumes of Landscape and Ur-
planning and research. Towards this end, we invited ban Planning represent the most up-to-date snapshot
over 30 authors from around the world to contribute of greenway planning around the world and illustrate
papers. These authors were selected because they were how different countries deal with planning linear cor-
leaders in greenway planning in their respective coun- ridors of protected green space at multiple-scales and
tries and/or had published on this topic in the past. for multiple purposes.
These papers were peer-reviewed, edited and resub-
mitted. During this process, several authors dropped
out and others were added. Of course the final prod- 2. Review of the greenway papers
uct could not be all-inclusive, constrained by limited
publishing space and limited time to edit and organize The fifteen papers contained in this special issue
these papers. fall into three general categories: (1) greenway case
The first 10 greenway papers were recently pub- studies at multiple-scales (nine papers); (2) greenway
lished in a special issue of Landscape and Urban Plan- networks for land preservation at the community scale
0169-2046/$ – see front matter © 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.
doi:10.1016/[Link].2004.09.028
2 Editorial / Landscape and Urban Planning 76 (2006) 1–6

(two papers); and (3) historical and theoretical discus- inantly privately owned farming area, a theme which
sions about ways that greenways are conceived and has appeared in other greenway projects, such as those
defined in different countries (four papers). This latter in the northeastern and central United States (Ryan and
category, greenway definitions is also found in several Hansel Walker, 2004; Schrader, 1995). The Kronsberg
other papers in this special issue. project of Germany illustrates how rational, scientific
knowledge about habitat planning must often yield to
2.1. Greenway case studies at multiple-scales political realities and management issues when imple-
mented at the local-level.
The first group of papers describes greenway plan- Ecological greenways are also the focus of a paper
ning at a range of scales from the large-scale region to by Margaret Bryant of the United States. This paper de-
the metropolitan and local level. While the scales vary scribes the challenge of habitat planning in a developed
between papers, the theme of planning for ecological, urban watershed in the Washington, DC metropolitan
recreational, and cultural purposes is found in all of region. Urban river corridors are the setting for many
the papers with many incorporating multiple purposes. international greenway projects that are described in
The first two papers in the special issue by Christina the two special issues, such as previously published
von Haaren and Michael Reich of Germany, and Mar- papers by Asakawa et al., 2004 in Sapporo, Japan;
garet Bryant of the United States emphasize planning and Gobster and Westphal (2004) in Chicago, Illinois.
greenways for ecological value and habitat protection. Bryant points to the fact that there is often very little
As described by Jongman et al. (2004) in our first biotic information about urban watersheds, yet these
volume of international greenways, ecological net- water resources are especially important to local resi-
works in Europe have become increasingly important dents as well as impact regional ecological health, in
in many new greenway initiatives, spurred by both this case the threatened Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.
national-level and European Union legislation. German Her review of landscape planning tools in the region is
landscape architect Christina von Haaren and ecologist a good counterpoint to Haaren and Reich’s overview
Michael Reich, of the Institute for Landscape Planning of German landscape planning legislation.
and Nature Conservation at the University of Hannover, The next three papers by Tan, Frischenbruder and
review their country’s long-standing history of green- Pellegrino, and Ribeiro and Barao begin with an
way planning. The first generation of German green- overview of greenway planning in each of their re-
ways, such as those around Stuttgart, focused on green spective countries (Singapore, Brazil, and Portugal).
space protection around urban areas, recreation and air These authors use multiple case studies to illustrate the
quality protection. More recent greenway projects have range of greenway planning projects and issues. Dr.
focused on habitat networks for multiple species pro- Kiat W. Tan, chief executive officer for Singapore’s
tection. In fact, the goal is to protect up to 10% of the National Parks describes his country’s efforts to de-
German landscape in these habitat corridors, which is a velop a network of greenway corridors in this densely
laudable goal considering the high population density populated island nation. The heavily developed na-
of the country and high percentages of private own- ture of this city–state requires what landscape architect
ership. The coordination of greenways at the national Jack Ahern (1995) calls an “opportunistic” approach
level is complicated by the fact that the German fed- to greenway planning. The greenway network utilizes
eral states have the legislative authority for greenway narrow strips of land along drainage channels and road
and landscape planning. This theme of cross-boundary right-of-ways. The challenge of implementing a green-
planning is similar to that in the New England region way network in one of the world’s most densely popu-
of the United States described in the editors’ own pa- lated urban areas provides insights for other countries
per, later in this same issue (Ryan, Fábos, and Allan). with rapidly urbanizing areas.
Haaren and Reich give examples of habitat networks at Marisa T. Mamede Frischenbruder and Paulo Pel-
multiple scales from the state-level to the local-level. legrino conducted a survey of greenway planners, de-
The case study in the municipality of Kronsberg de- signers, and researchers in Brazil to determine the eight
scribes the difficulties of implementing a greenway for projects that exemplify innovative greenway planning
ecological and recreational purposes across a predom- in their country. These projects range in scale from the
 Editorial / Landscape and Urban Planning 76 (2006) 1–6 3

state-level to local-level and illustrate recent landscape history of Italy. By connecting historic-cultural re-
planning efforts in Brazil to protect and preserve natu- sources and fragmented open space along river cor-
ral corridors in and around rapidly growing urban areas. ridors, this project achieves a multi-purpose greenway
Like the work in Europe and North America, there is that is somewhat unique in Italy. The implementation of
a heavy focus on water quality and habitat protection, the Battle of Pavia Greenway inspired regional govern-
especially in Brazil’s coastal cities that lie within the ment agencies to plan a more extensive 100 km green-
endangered Atlantic rainforest ecosystem. These au- way to connect northward to Milan and south to Varzi in
thors use the term “green and blue” infrastructure to the Apennine Mountains. This paper reveals that build-
emphasize the riparian nature of these greenways. ing small sections of long greenway corridors can help
In a similar format as the paper from Brazil, Por- win support of local residents and the attention of lo-
tuguese landscape architects Luis Ribeiro and Teresa cal officials. In this case, public support for the green-
Barao give a historic overview of landscape and green- way convinced regional officials to expand the green-
way planning in Portugal followed by examples of way network. This phenomenon of a small, successful
projects at multiple scales. The five case studies range greenway project advancing larger scale networks was
from the culturally rich Sintra region west of Lisbon to also described in Portugal by Ribeiro and Barao, as
urban greenways in the city of Tomar. An emphasis on well as by the author of the next paper.
human use of the greenway corridors for recreation, as The next two papers in this special issue look
well as the protection of cultural resources create green- at which planning strategies and tools are success-
ways with a more multi-purpose focus than the habi- ful for planning and implementing large-scale green-
tat network projects described by Haaren and Reich ways. Landscape architect Nancy Rottle from the Pa-
(Germany) or Bryant (United States). It is interesting cific Northwest region of the United States gives a
to note that in Portugal as in Germany and Brazil, na- detailed case study of the mountains to sound green-
tionwide environmental legislation had a strong impact way in Washington State. Using multiple methodolo-
on encouraging greenway planning at the regional and gies of archival research, professional experience, and
municipal levels. Another constant in these urban set- interviews, Rottle describes how grass-root efforts of
tings is the need to make use of limited rights of ways, volunteers mobilized a broad-based coalition of gov-
such as historic canals and rivers to create greenways ernment agencies, environmental groups, industry, and
in urban areas. other stakeholders to plan a 65 km (40 mile) wide cor-
Two papers describe the state of greenway planning ridor along a major interstate highway. Spanning from
in Italy. Alessandro Toccolini, president of the Italian the Seattle metropolitan area along the Pacific Ocean
Greenway Association, and his colleagues at the Uni- over the towering Cascade Mountains, this 160 km
versity of Milan illustrate a landscape assessment for (100 mile) long corridor includes working farm and
a greenway network in the densely populated Lambro forest landscapes, scenic resources, recreational trails,
River Valley Park, north of Milan. This park is a typi- wildlife habitat, and historic and cultural resources.
cal European green-line type park with existing cities, In this paper, Rottle proposes the “landscape-based
villages, farms, and natural areas (Corbett, 1983). By greenway” as a new typology to describe this “mega-
focusing on existing trails, these researchers found that corridor” approach that emphasizes human use of the
almost 80% of a non-motorized pedestrian network al- landscape. While this approach is similar to many Eu-
ready exists and just required careful planning to create ropean models of greenway planning within a work-
new linkages to connect urban residents to the region’s ing landscape, such as the Lambro River study in Italy
amenities. This project is unique for Italy in that it fo- by Toccolini et al., the scale of the project is much
cuses on a greenway network, rather than a single cor- larger and utilizes a major highway as the organiz-
ridor. ing element rather than historic rivers or canals. Fur-
As a counterpoint, Italian landscape architect Kathe- thermore, Rottle highlights a planning process that is
rina Scudo details two greenways in the Pavia area extremely broad-based with leadership and coordina-
south of Milan. The Battle of Pavia Greenway high- tion for the project coming from the private, non-profit
lights a greenway that preserves and promotes a his- sector rather than the government. The results of her
torical and culturally rich area that was critical to the research suggest that successful large-scale greenway
4 Editorial / Landscape and Urban Planning 76 (2006) 1–6

planning can be achieved by (1) defining a flexible, al- study of a master planned residential community west
most diffuse greenway boundary for the corridor; (2) of Cairo, Egypt to illustrate the application of these
including a broad-based, well-organized collaborative ideas to the Mideast. Dr. Imam translates a traditional
process; (3) having effective leadership; (4) promot- Egyptian street pattern called the “hara” into a cul-de-
ing a greenway vision rather than a detailed plan; and sac network of streets with clustered homes in a new
(5) utilizing creative land protection strategies, such as suburban community. This clustered plan allows for a
land trades between public and private interests. network of protected green space with pedestrian and
A research paper by the co-editors of this spe- cycle paths that connect residents to the community
cial issue and Jessica Allan highlights successful ap- center with its park, mosque, shopping center, and
proaches to greenway planning in another region of community building. The protected green space in
the United States, New England. This study used in- this community highlights scenic views to the nearby
depth interviews with greenway planners from govern- pyramids of Giza, preserves shallow depressions in
mental agencies and non-profit organizations to under- the natural terrain, and creates landscaped pedestrian
stand strategies for coordinating large-scale greenways corridors to modify the harsh desert climate.
across multiple political jurisdictions. The greenway While the first paper by Dr. Imam describes a com-
planning experts in the region reiterated many of the munity that is still in the planning stages, Japanese plan-
same themes found in Rottle’s research: the importance ner Makoto Yokohari and his colleagues at the Uni-
of partnerships and collaboration, clearly defined goals versity of Tsukuba evaluate the greenway networks
and a shared vision plan, public involvement, and re- of Japanese New Towns that were developed over
gional coordination. The importance of having a lead thirty years ago. These new towns were part of the
organization to coordinate regional planning is a key modernist-planning era that rebuilt Europe and Japan
component that is difficult to achieve in a large, multi- after the Second World War. Yokohari’s study exem-
state region such as New England and has been more plifies the dynamic nature of managing greenway net-
successful in the less politically fractured Mountains to works. Originally, greenway corridors in Japanese New
Sound Greenway of Washington State described in the Towns were developed to provide landscaped corridors
case study by Nancy Rottle. A comparison between for pedestrian and cyclists. Unfortunately, these corri-
these two papers will allow the reader to learn more dors have become too “green” as vegetation matured
about planning tools and strategies to implement large- and became overgrown. Moreover, changes in Japanese
scale regional greenways. society have resulted in perceptions that these green-
ways are unsafe. Crime is a management issue that ur-
2.2. Greenway networks for land preservation at ban greenways in other countries have had to grapple
the community scale with for sometime, because the long linear nature of
greenways often create corridors that are hidden from
The second category of papers in this special issue nearby streets and homes (Luymes and Tamminga,
look at the use of greenways to preserve land within 1995). Since understanding the public’s perceptions of
new communities. These greenways take a “defensive” greenways is a critical aspect of greenway planning
approach to planning and use a landscape assessment and management, these researchers conducted a sur-
to determine the most threatened resources to preserve vey of local residents living near the Tsukuba green-
(Ahern, 1995). In the first special issue on interna- way network. The results of the study showed that res-
tional greenways, papers by Randall Arendt (2004) and idents feared crime in those areas that were dark, over-
Conine et al. (2004) covered the topic of using green- grown, and underused. This study highlights the fact
ways to create community-wide greenway networks in that greenway need adaptive management to respond
the United States. These two papers in the current spe- to changing environmental and societal condit ions.
cial issue cover the topic of greenways and community
planning from an international perspective. 2.3. Historical and theoretical greenway papers
Egyptian architect and planner Khalid Zakaria El
Adli Imam of Cairo University traces the history of The final four papers in this special issue discuss the
greenways in shaping urban form and uses a case historical development of greenway planning interna-
 Editorial / Landscape and Urban Planning 76 (2006) 1–6 5

tionally, as well as in specific countries. Moreover, sev- Anthony Walmsley puts greenways in the larger
eral papers are essays on the theoretical and conceptual land-use planning context of the past twenty-five years,
roots of greenway planning, and address such questions predominantly in the United States. This paper de-
as: (1) how have greenways been defined in their re- fines and reviews some of the recent trends in land
spective countries and (2) how does greenway planning use planning including, new urbanism, smart growth,
fit within the larger context of landscape planning? and green infrastructure. Walmsley distinguishes green
Chinese landscape architect Kongjian Yu and his infrastructure from greenways in that green infrastruc-
colleagues review the history of greenway planning in ture is more ecologically focused, preserves large eco-
China. While the term, “greenway” is a modern plan- logical “hubs”, and provides a framework for growth.
ning term; ancient Chinese planners utilized greenway He uses the State of New Jersey’s Open Space and
corridors along canals and other linear corridors. These Greenway Vision plan as an example of a green infras-
authors describe a “top–down” approach to planning tructure assessment. While one may argue that green-
that has resulted in large-scale projects for resource ways include all the aspects of green infrastructure de-
protection and hazard mitigation. For example, green- scribed in Walmsley’s paper, he is correct that this new
ways are part of massive windbreaks in farming ar- term has been embraced by many in the environmental
eas and reforestation along drainage corridors. In many and planning world. As Walmsley notes, green infras-
ways, these corridors are akin to the European ecolog- tructure puts an emphasis on the essential quality of
ical networks described by Jongman et al. (2004) and green space protection, rather than the amenity aspects
Haaren and Reich in this issue. However, the Chinese that some solely recreation focused greenway corridors
emphasis is on productive, working landscapes rather may have. The seminal point of this paper is that land
than on habitat protection. Yu and others acknowledge use planning and conservation planning should happen
that Chinese greenway planning has “little concern for together. To extend this example to the entire volume
human uses” such as recreation. However, China, as of international greenways, greenway planning is part
a rapidly urbanizing nation, has put a strong empha- of the larger landscape planning discipline and should
sis on urban park planning and has begun to embrace a be integrated into the planning process as suggested by
more recreationally-focused greenway as part of newly Tom Turner of Great Britain.
planned linear park systems. The final paper in this special issue is a short com-
Chinese landscape architect Kongjian Yu and his munication from Jon Rodiek, editor of Landscape
colleagues review the history of greenway planning in and Urban Planning that summarizes a keynote ad-
China. While the term, “greenway” is a modern plan- dress that he gave at the inaugural Fábos Landscape
ning term; ancient Chinese planners utilized greenway Planning and Greenway Symposium at the Univer-
corridors along canals and other linear corridors. These sity of Massachusetts, Amherst in conjunction with the
authors describe a “top–down” approach to planning Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional
that has resulted in large-scale projects for resource Planning’s Centennial celebration. His short paper de-
protection and hazard mitigation. For example, green- scribes the impact that landscape planning that includes
ways are part of massive windbreaks in farming ar- greenway planning has had on the profession of land-
eas and reforestation along drainage corridors. In many scape architecture, including the increasing interdisci-
ways, these corridors are akin to the European ecolog- plinary aspect of the profession and the importance of
ical networks described by Jongman et al. (2004) and ecological science to design and planning. In a larger
Haaren and Reich in this issue. However, the Chinese sense, greenway planning as a subset of landscape plan-
emphasis is on productive, working landscapes rather ning has been important part of this evolution.
than on habitat protection. Yu and others acknowledge
that Chinese greenway planning has “little concern for
human uses” such as recreation. However, China, as 3. Conclusion
a rapidly urbanizing nation, has put a strong empha-
sis on urban park planning and has begun to embrace a In summary, this collection of international papers
more recreationally-focused greenway as part of newly shows that greenway planning has expanded around
planned linear park systems. the world in the past decade since the first green-
6 Editorial / Landscape and Urban Planning 76 (2006) 1–6

way special issue of Landscape and Urban Planning References

in 1995. The papers in this two part special issue
(2004–2005) include authors from twelve countries on Ahern, J., 1995. Greenways as a planning strategy. Landscape Urban
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Arendt, R., 2004. Linked landscapes: creating greenway corridors
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ern (1996), greenways have become a force in land- eastern and central United States. Landscape Urban Plan. 68
scape planning. With this explosive growth in green- (2–3), 241–269.
way planning and implementation has come a diver- Asakawa, S., Yoshida, K., Yabe, K., 2004. Perceptions of urban
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scribed in the paper by Anthony Walmsley. Yet, the Conine, A., Xiang, W.N., Young, J., Whitley, D., 2004. Planning for
most significant aspects of greenway planning remain multi-purpose greenways in Concord, North Carolina. Landscape
constant—the great majority of greenways are part of Urban Plan. 68 (2–3), 271–287.
natural drainage areas of local, regional, and national Corbett, M.R., 1983. Greenline Parks, Land Conservation Trends
territories (Fábos, 1995). These riparian corridors need for the Eighties and Beyond. National Parks and Conservation
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to be handled with special care. River corridors are the Fábos, J.G., 1995. Introduction and overview: The greenway move-
most significant part of the landscape for natural protec- ment, uses and potentials of greenways. Landscape Urban Plan.
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ning of cultural heritage areas, at every scale (Lewis, Fábos, J.G., Ahern, J. (Eds.), 1996. Greenways: The Beginning of
1964). Hence, the importance of greenway planning an International Movement. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Fábos, J.G., Ryan, R.L. (Eds.), 2004. International greenway plan-
will increase significantly worldwide in the future. ning: an introduction. Landscape Urban Plan. 68 (2–3), 143–
The international papers in this special issue illus- 146.
trate that greenway researchers and planners play a very Gobster, P.H., Westphal, L., 2004. The human dimensions of ur-
important role in several key areas of the planning pro- ban greenways: planning for recreation and related experiences.
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Jongman, R.H.G., Kulvik, M., Kristiansen, I., 2004. European eco-
• They are invaluable in assessing resource val- logical networks and greenways. Landscape Urban Plan. 68
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Lewis Jr., P.H., 1964. Quality corridors in Wisconsin. Landscape
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• They are essential for formulating useful vision plans Luymes, D.T., Tamminga, K., 1995. Integrating public safety and
and proposing viable alternative planning scenarios. use into planning urban greenways. Landscape Urban Plan. 33
• They are useful facilitators for involving the pub- (1–3), 391–400.
lic in planning, design, and management deci- Ryan, R., Hansel Walker, J.T., 2004. Protecting and managing private
farmland and public greenways in the urban fringe. Landscape
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We hope that the literature produced by the authors Schrader, C.C., 1995. Rural greenway planning: the role of
streamland perception in landowner acceptance of land man-
of these 25 greenway papers, and distributed worldwide agement strategies. Landscape Urban Plan. 33 (1–3), 375–
by Landscape and Urban Planning, will be a pow- 390.
erful and effective promoter for the emerging green-
way movement. In the words of Anthony Walmsley,
Julius Gy. Fábos
this effort will aid significantly in “multiplying and di-
Robert L. Ryan∗
versifying [greenway planning] in the 21st century.”
Department of Landscape Architecture and
As environmental concerns and increased population
Regional Planning, University of Massachusetts
place greater pressures on natural systems, especially
109 Hills North, Amherst, MA 01003-9328, USA
river corridors, the time for planning environmentally ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 413 545 6633;
sensitive greenways and green space networks is even
fax: +1 413 545 1772
more critical than ever. We hope that these volumes
E-mail addresses: jfabos@[Link]
will inspire the next generation of landscape planners
([Link]. Fábos) rlryan@[Link] (R.L. Ryan)
to expand both the research and practice of greenway
planning. Available online 8 December 2004