ABSTRACT
Cities around the world are attempting to respond to the dual challenges of urbanization and climate change by creating meaningful climate and energy policies. In these efforts, they stand to benefit by drawing lessons from the experiences of “pioneering cities” that have developed large-scale green infrastructure projects. Stuttgart stands among the urban pioneers of green infrastructure planning through the application of regional-scale hybrid hydrological/drainage networks, urban forests and interconnected green spaces to service the built environment with clean air, water, and soil (Spirn, 1985). For instance, the Stuttgart region has established “clean air corridors” along the spines of its urban forests and green-spaces. These corridors are stretches of protected and monitored urban forests and green-spaces, planned to facilitate thermally-induced winds to mitigate the region’s urban heat islands and filter air contaminants. The integration of green infrastructure across the Stuttgart region is more meaningful when considering that it also is one of Europe’s most industrialized and economically advanced regions.
