THE CONFIGURATIONAL APPROACH TO MEASURE THE IMPACT OF GREEN SPACES ON URBAN LANDSCAPE

This paper focuses on the use of configurational approach to highlight the impact of green spaces on the image of the contemporary city in terms of urban landscape.
Public green spaces, such as parks and sports fields as well as woods and natural meadows nested in the urban environment, are a key factor of the city, affecting its physical layer as much as the quality of life of its inhabitants. They are valuable contributors to urban policies and planning strategies also. The most advanced analysis tools allow us to give a quantitative estimation of what is the role played by green areas in different domains of urban environment by measuring the impact they have on the urban landscape, understood as the result of human/city interaction. This article is pivoted on the use of Configurational Analysis of the urban network to calculate centrality indexes that proved to be directly related to the understanding of urban landscape.
A large dismissed green area in the city of Caserta have been studied in order to highlight the impact of its regeneration on the city as a whole, thanks to the use of an ArcGIS software plug-in able to implement Space Syntax techniques. The objective is pursued through a multi-scenario analysis.
It is hoped that this paper will foster the inclusion of quantitative data on urban landscape in strategic urban planning as well as in the process of urban policy making.