Aerial and pedestrian level green infrastructure survey of 12 squares located in Brussels Capital Region

Given the multiple ecological and environmental benefits provided by Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI), many municipalities are investing in urban de-mineralization strategies. However, without a detailed survey of the pre-existing UGI characteristics, and accessibility measures, the potential socio-environmental and urban health benefits the implementation of new UGI could bring along may not be achieved. This research proposes a novel methodology to quantify UGI, and its visual accessibility, combining remote sensing and image processing technologies. Twelve squares located in the Brussels Capital Region have been studied. Through an aerial survey, the normalized difference vegetation index has been computed. Through a pedestrian-level survey and using 360° Google Street View imagery and semantic classification, novel UGI indicators to document the UGI types, their ratios, and their position relative to the camera have been computed. The proposed indicators could be adopted by decision-makers, to render green visual accessibility more equitable