Green Infrastructure and Social Welfare.
Lessons for Sustainable Urban
Development in the Metropolitan Zone
of Leon, Mexico
Jairo Agustín Reyes Plata, Mónica Elías Orozco
and Iliana Zuri Jiménez Villaseñor
Abstract Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable is a goal of sustainable development (Sustainable Development Goal 11, SDG
11). To achieve sustainable cities, urban planning of natural spaces must contribute
to deal with the socioenvironmental challenges brought by urbanization. However,
planning strategies for green infrastructure are frequently skewed toward ecological
aspects. Such a unidimensional perspective in the development of planning tools
may have a poor contribution to social welfare. Therefore, there is a need for integrating the social aspects to achieve effective planning, and to recognize the social
contributions of green infrastructure. The objective of this study is to diagnose the
functions and dysfunctions of green infrastructure, as well as its contributions to
the social welfare in the Metropolitan Zone of Leon, Mexico. The area of study is
characterized by an accelerated urban growth in one of the most dynamic industrial
regions in the country. The methodology includes an assessment of green infrastructure components of its distribution. An evaluation of welfare-related social context
was also conducted. Main results showed that (i) green infrastructure can be a strategic approach for the land sustainability, (ii) the metropolitan area of Leon showed the
existence of key green infrastructure components and reveled a fragmented network
of natural spaces and (iii) people perceived social and environmental functions and
dysfunctions from green infrastructure components. This study has concluded that
an effective planning approach to green infrastructure should integrate functions and
dysfunctions related to social context. This approach may contribute to create more
sustainable cities with benefits for all people.
J. A. Reyes Plata (B)
Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores, Unidad León, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
México, Blvd. UNAM 2011, Comunidad de los Tepetates, León, Guanajuato, México
e-mail: jreyes@enes.unam.mx
M. Elías Orozco · I. Z. J. Villaseñor
Universidad Iberoamericana León, Blvd. Jorge Vértiz Campero 1640, Col. Cañada de Alfaro,
37238 León, Guanajuato, México
e-mail: monica_elias@hotmail.com
I. Z. J. Villaseñor
e-mail: zurijv@hotmail.com
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities and Sustainable Communities:
Meeting the Goals of the Agenda 2030, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30306-8_4
71
Lessons for Sustainable Urban
Development in the Metropolitan Zone
of Leon, Mexico
Jairo Agustín Reyes Plata, Mónica Elías Orozco
and Iliana Zuri Jiménez Villaseñor
Abstract Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable is a goal of sustainable development (Sustainable Development Goal 11, SDG
11). To achieve sustainable cities, urban planning of natural spaces must contribute
to deal with the socioenvironmental challenges brought by urbanization. However,
planning strategies for green infrastructure are frequently skewed toward ecological
aspects. Such a unidimensional perspective in the development of planning tools
may have a poor contribution to social welfare. Therefore, there is a need for integrating the social aspects to achieve effective planning, and to recognize the social
contributions of green infrastructure. The objective of this study is to diagnose the
functions and dysfunctions of green infrastructure, as well as its contributions to
the social welfare in the Metropolitan Zone of Leon, Mexico. The area of study is
characterized by an accelerated urban growth in one of the most dynamic industrial
regions in the country. The methodology includes an assessment of green infrastructure components of its distribution. An evaluation of welfare-related social context
was also conducted. Main results showed that (i) green infrastructure can be a strategic approach for the land sustainability, (ii) the metropolitan area of Leon showed the
existence of key green infrastructure components and reveled a fragmented network
of natural spaces and (iii) people perceived social and environmental functions and
dysfunctions from green infrastructure components. This study has concluded that
an effective planning approach to green infrastructure should integrate functions and
dysfunctions related to social context. This approach may contribute to create more
sustainable cities with benefits for all people.
J. A. Reyes Plata (B)
Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores, Unidad León, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
México, Blvd. UNAM 2011, Comunidad de los Tepetates, León, Guanajuato, México
e-mail: jreyes@enes.unam.mx
M. Elías Orozco · I. Z. J. Villaseñor
Universidad Iberoamericana León, Blvd. Jorge Vértiz Campero 1640, Col. Cañada de Alfaro,
37238 León, Guanajuato, México
e-mail: monica_elias@hotmail.com
I. Z. J. Villaseñor
e-mail: zurijv@hotmail.com
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities and Sustainable Communities:
Meeting the Goals of the Agenda 2030, World Sustainability Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30306-8_4
71