ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the term "regreening" is used to describe design and development strategies that restore natural ecosystem functions through the use of green infrastructure and ultimately reduce "gray" infrastructure and the overall human footprint on the earth. An interconnected network of green infrastructure has the potential to provide solutions and remedies for the physical, social, and economic environments that can foster sustainability at local, regional, and global scales. Green infrastructure contributes to the three Es of sustainability, which include the physical or ecological environment, the economic environment, and the social environment. The World Wide Fund for Nature, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Global Footprint Network have also shown that humans have been living beyond their means since 1987. In addition to the damage to the physical environment mentioned above, increased consumption and subsequent pollution in the air, water, and soil also yield a degradation of physical and mental health in humans.
