Trying to get through this literature review for my thesis paper is killing me. I am not going to lie. The more that I do the more that I feel like I have to do. I am having my doubts about getting this done! Right now I am delving into the world of Green Infrastructure. This is not the focus of my paper, but it is a large component of the argument for protecting urban forests.
In terms of planning, green infrastructure makes great sense because it is set up almost like a level of service approach. There is a hierarchical strategy to assess cost, maintenance, and amount of services needed for a given area. The real problem I see in ecological benefits being recognized in a way that is competitive with the benefits of development, is a lack of appropriate assessment. This would give a usable dollar figure for people to weigh against future land-use planning.
Hmmm.... maybe this is the future of ecology and development finally making friends? We'll see. Here is an interesting study on how Maryland has done this.
