Integrated Ecological Framework of Urban Green Spaces

Urban Green Spaces (UGSs) are vital components of urban socio-ecological systems, providing ecological, environmental and social benefits. Growing urbanisation, climate change and biodiversity loss highlight the need to better integrate ecological principles into urban planning. However, existing approaches frequently address urban morphology, green infrastructure, ecological processes, ecosystem functions, ecosystem services and urban resilience as partially separate domains, limiting the understanding of their interrelationships. This review develops the Integrated Ecological Framework of Urban Green Spaces (IEF–UGS) through a structured conceptual synthesis of interdisciplinary research in urban ecology, landscape ecology, urban forestry, ecosystem services and spatial planning. The framework distinguishes six analytically interconnected levels: urban morphology, green infrastructure, ecological processes, ecological functions, ecosystem services and urban resilience. Rather than treating these levels as a strictly linear causal sequence, IEF–UGS conceptualises them as components of an interconnected socio-ecological system influenced by environmental conditions, management and governance, and characterised by cross-level interactions and feedbacks. The synthesis indicates that urban morphology provides an important spatial context for ecological functioning through its effects on habitat configuration, connectivity, hydrology and microclimate, while green infrastructure provides the spatial basis for ecological processes. These processes contribute to ecological functions such as climate and hydrological regulation, habitat provision, carbon sequestration and soil protection, which in turn support regulating, provisioning, supporting and cultural ecosystem services. The resulting ecological and societal outcomes contribute to climate adaptation, climate mitigation, biodiversity conservation and selected dimensions of urban resilience. The framework also distinguishes structural, process, functional and outcome-oriented indicators and proposes an operational pathway linking each level to measurable indicators, data sources and planning applications. IEF–UGS provides a conceptual basis for integrating ecological assessment, green infrastructure planning, urban forest management and climate-responsive spatial planning, while identifying priorities for future empirical validation.