The project is devoted to the green infrastructure (GI) of small (less than 20,000 inhabitants) and medium (up to 100,000 inhabitants) cities. Referring to the idea of GI in our project is to emphasise that the way of identification, and especially the assessment of the participation, distribution, natural and social significance of the studied areas will refer to the main principles of GI.
It is especially about their arrangement that they not only create conditions for recreation, but also bring many other benefits: protection of natural values, mitigation of the effects of climate change, improvement of air and water quality, development of economic functions (e.g. tourism), attractiveness of a city landscape and improving its image. We want to take care of small and medium-sized cities for two main reasons. First of all, these cities are currently at the centre of interest of both researchers and politicians in Poland.
This results from the fact that in the network of Polish cities, they constitute important administrative, social and often economic links, but their existence is threatened due to the number of people living in them decreasing, and they often lose their functions of economic and administrative centres. The second reason is the clear gap in research on the GI of such cities compared to numerous studies conducted in large cities with over 100,000 inhabitants.
The purpose of our research is therefore to examine what GI resources are available in small and medium-sized cities, and what importance do their resources have for their development and the quality of life of residents. We are also interested in whether the authorities and communities of the cities studied see a need for GI and whether they take actions to maintain and preserve its existing resources and create new ones. We want to find out whether our assessments of GI resources are consistent with the views of the authorities and residents of the cities studied.