Background: It has been recognized that urban green spaces play a crucial role in providing many landscape services. The research aimed at identifying the main knowledge gaps in this framework and to support urban planning, taking into account the spatial configuration of green areas through a pilot study area, and mapping urban landscape services. Methods: In this research, (1) a systematic review, analyzed through a network analysis; (2) an urban pilot study to map the Urban Green Index and, jointly, the spatial composition and configuration of urban green areas, through the integration of three landscape metrics; and (3) the mapping of Urban Landscape Services Index have been carried out. Results: The 37% of the reviewed articles focused on regulating services, while the network analysis identified four clusters. The total Urban Green Index was 26%, and some districts showed a percentage that surpassed it. The total overall Green Connectivity Index was 21%. Some districts were the best providers of landscape services. Conclusions: This research was in line with the EU Joint Science for Policy Report suggesting giving emphasis to the spatial pattern map of green spaces in European cities to provide spatial data available for decision-makers in relation to GI deployment.

Peri-urban vegetable cropping areas, such as horticultural farms, provide several ecosystem services, such as the provision of fresh food. However, food supply must be estimated on the basis of the current and potential demand of future populations, taking into account the landscape carrying capacity towards sustainable agricultural planning. From this perspective, the study aimed at estimating the resilience of the “Agri-food Region of Central Córdoba” (ARCC) and its role in supporting the provisioning of ecosystem services, such as proximal services, provided by the diversified agricultural landscape in the peri-urban area of Córdoba (Argentina). A direct field survey has been carried out to collect data on the main species and types of crops, the annual productivity, and the area covered by each species and type of horticultural crops. The data have been statistically elaborated to test the spatial and temporal variability of productivity as well as the spatial autocorrelation. In relation to crop diversification, a total of 30 vegetable species have been recorded in the diversified farms under study, with 15 species identified as the most frequent crops as on the basis of the area dedicated to each vegetable species sampled in the farms (in %). The productivity of 30 species has been integrated into a single value of “vegetable crop productivity mean” (kg/m²), proposed and measured in this study, which has been 3.46 kg/m². It can be a useful monitoring indicator in diversified production contexts. The estimated food supply (ton/year) of vegetable crops for the 170 farmlands has been 72,881 ton/year. An accurate measurement of the biomass harvested on a given surface area can be useful to assign productivity data to the pixel of each land use/cover class, providing accurate input data for remotely sensed-based models supporting decision-making on food provision in peri-urban systems. In this sense, the paper proposes a methodological framework that can be useful worldwide when up-to-date official productivity data are not available, but they are a necessary basis for planning, decision-making, and the implementation of public policies. Thus, diversity in farming systems can combine high ecological and socio-economic benefits, in terms of ecosystem service provision and sustainable food production.

In the current climate emergency, enhancing resilience and developing sustainable urban models represents an ongoing challenge, based on a solid theoretical framework to support various management and planning strategies for the territorial organization of cities. The global environmental agenda systematized in international treaties and agreements provides a comprehensive framework for the development of urban resilience policies across multiple levels of government. This article integrates three analytical axes: (1) the conceptualization of Urban green infrastructure (UGI) and Urban ecosystem services (UES) from an ecosystem-based solutions approach, and their interconnection with urban resilience planning processes; (2) the analysis of how the theoretical frameworks of the global environmental agenda are incorporated across different levels of government (national, provincial, and municipal), examining their application in urban planning public policies and their alignment with the climate agenda and the concepts of UGI and UES; (3) the comparison between the normative analysis and the perspectives and conceptual constructions of the actors involved in the process of regulation management and enforcement, as well as in the production of knowledge and professional practice. This study employs a multilevel case study approach, examining national environmental regulations in Argentina, and subnational policy frameworks in Córdoba Province. It is concluded that,at the subnational level, regulations are outdated and unharmonized in comparison to global theoretical frameworks. Moreover, public policy managers lack technical skills and there is absence of ecological criteria for participation in the planning and design processes of UGI.