Incorporating landscape diversity into greenway alignment planning

As an important factor of scenic quality and biodiversity along a greenway, landscape diversity has yet to receive as much attention as it deserves. In the practice of greenway alignment planning, it usually gives way to the primary consideration of land suitability. In this article, we aim to make up this missing link. Upon the new concepts and measurement of linear landscape diversity and cellular landscape diversity, we proposed greenway potential index incorporating land suitability and landscape diversity. The greenway potential index was combined with connectivity analysis to connect path between a future greenway’s origin and destination that meets both land suitability and landscape diversity requirements. Specially, with Wuchang (Wuhan City, China) as a case study area, we proposed three greenway alignment planning scenarios respectively according to the criteria of suitability, diversity and the synthesis of them. Markedly differences were revealed between the results of suitability greenways and diversity greenways. The results indicate that the tripartite model we proposed is capable of planning a connecting path between a future greenway’s origin and destination that not only meets land suitability requirements for greenway construction, but also incorporates as many landscape types of significant difference as possible.