Green infrastructure (GI) is planned at various scales, including a regional one: city-regions. Strategic GI planning included in the city-regions spatial development policy can contribute to their sustainable development through, among others, providing a range of ecosystem services. In order to meet the challenge of planning GI on a regional scale, the authors present the Method of Landscape-Functional Units (Method LaFU), which is used for the planning and evaluation of such systems. This method was tested in the Wrocław Functional Area (WFA), which is characterized by many negative processes, primarily uncontrolled development of built-up areas, fragmentation of landscape, and declining natural and semi-natural areas. The presented results show the effectiveness of the Method LaFU in GI planning and, above all, in its assessment, which makes it possible to identify problem areas that are at risk but still important for the functioning of the GI system. This allows for quick decision making by entities responsible for spatial planning in the region. The proposed method can also be used in other city-regions.

The aim of this article was to present Sectoral Analysis of Landscape Interiors (SALI). This method uses the idea of a landscape interior understood as a fragment of a landscape perceived from the level of a person standing at a given point. The analyses were conducted in two stages: stage I—the quantitative stage, and stage II—the qualitative stage. The first part of the research was the analysis of the percentage share of particular elements of landscape interiors in the images perpetuated in photographs, taking into account their level of transparency. The second part was the assessment of their quality based on expert knowledge. The use of the SALI method in the context of the analysis of greenery changes over time was illustrated on the example of the landscape interior of the main street in the village of Psary in Poland. The research was carried out at a time interval of 10 years—for the years 2009 and 2019. The results of the study indicate very large changes and loss of greenery (especially trees) and the associated deterioration of the landscape. The findings confirm the suitability of the method in landscape research at a human scale.

Suburban areas are often used for large-scale developments such as hypermarkets, warehouses, and logistics zones, which lead to the fragmentation of natural areas and the visual degradation of the landscape. This study aimed to evaluate ways to reduce the negative impact of these developments by introducing green infrastructure (GI) elements. The analysis focused on warehouses in the inner ring of the planned green infrastructure system in the Wrocław Functional Area (GI WFA). This study involved three stages: (1) selecting a landscape-functional unit (LaFU) vulnerable to landscape degradation; (2) analyzing changes from the development of large-scale warehouses between 2004 and 2021; and (3) assessing the effect of new GI elements using the Sectoral Landscape Interior Analysis (SALI) method. Three models of GI implementation were proposed and evaluated both from a plan view and from a moving observer’s perspective. The results showed that large-scale developments reduce biologically active areas and disrupt landscape harmony. Model III, which includes green roofs, trees, and semi-permeable surfaces, significantly increased greenery and reduced visual degradation. It is recommended to apply the model and its variations in other similar developments for the benefit of the natural environment and landscape.

This article presents a study of the elements of green infrastructure in villages located in peri-urban areas. The research focuses on the built-up areas of villages, which together with public and private green areas, are defined as the Cores of the Village (CoV). The research was based on the Wroclaw Functional Area (WFA). The main objective of the study was to identify which sites in a CoV have the potential to increase Green Infrastructure (GI) network connectivity and how these have changed with the development of built-up areas. These sites have been defined as Potential Green Infrastructure Elements (PeGI). The study was conducted over three time periods: the early 20th century, the early 21st century and future plans. The research revealed that, within the historic CoV areas, there existed PeGIs that communicated with external GI elements, but that such connections between PeGIs and GI elements have not been taken into account in future development plans. Furthermore, increases in the area of built-up land have not been matched by an increase in PeGI area. However, through the creation of greenways, among other things, there is potential for shaping PeGI inside a CoV in a way which would strengthen GI structural connectivity.