Urban Planning and Greening Practices: A Case For Neighborhood Development in a Typical Urban Area

The work that follows aims at evaluating the urban area/neighborhood of “Agios Konstantinos” in the city of Larissa to the extent that it meets the criteria of green-sustainable design, as these criteria are included in the LEED-Neighborhood Development system methodology. The above methodology encodes the most important elements for green urban planning and provides a quantitative assessment system with key axes those of “smart location and connectivity”, “neighborhood model and plan” and “green infrastructure and buildings”. Nowadays, there is an ongoing debate on urban space and its problems. All urban elements, such as those of the built-structured environment, its open-public areas and its natural elements formulate the urban plot. At the same time, human activities greatly affect both the plot and the living conditions. Environmental issues are often disregarded in urban space and its planning process with damaging effects on cities and, more general, on urban settlements. The advantages and benefits of formally including environmental considerations in urban planning and integrating them into urban development strategies are many, as two of the most important “urban problems” are those of the gradual deterioration and degradation of the area’s microclima and the excessive consumption of energy resources.