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Application of land suitability analysis and landscape ecology to urban

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Article in Urban Forestry & Urban Greening · February 2008

DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2007.09.002

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 ARTICLE IN PRESS

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40

www.elsevier.de/ufug

Application of land suitability analysis and landscape ecology to urban

greenspace planning in Hanoi, Vietnam
Pham Duc Uy, Nobukazu Nakagoshi
Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima
739-8259, Japan

Abstract
Urban green spaces, an important component of urban ecosystems, provide many environmental and social services
that contribute to the quality of life in cities. One of the key tasks of planners is how to optimize the benefits of urban
green spaces. This study introduces a program for developing green spaces in urban areas through (1) land suitability
analysis based on GIS; (2) quantifying green areas based on the ecological factor threshold method to maintain
ecological balance; and (3) applying landscape-ecology principles in organizing green spaces in urban areas. A case
study was made for Hanoi, Vietnam and its results show that most of the planned green spaces in the 2020 Hanoi
Master Plan are suitable for development. However, the recommended 18 m2 green area per capita seems not to be
enough to maintain ecological balance and organization of the green spaces in the 2020 plan seems to lack a theoretical
basis, or a holistic framework, at different scales. From this perspective, we propose that Hanoi should set aside an
extra green area from 6842 to 10,228 ha, and that the 2020 Hanoi green structure plan at regional, city and
neighborhood scales includes three green wedges, one green belt, various parks and other green ways to create a green
network ecologically more effective than the sum of the individual green spaces. This green structure and the combined
data approaches used here will form a base for building a garden city or an eco-city in the future.
r 2007 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Greenbelts; Greenways; Green wedges; Land suitability analysis; Landscape-ecology principles

Introduction viewed as last remnants of nature in urban areas

The roles and benefits of green spaces for urban
dwellers cannot be denied. Urban green spaces can
be defined and classified in many ways depending on
their demands and specific requirements. Urban green
spaces are outdoor places with significant amounts
of vegetation (Bonsignore, 2003), which exist mainly
as semi-natural areas (Jim and Chen, 2003), or are
Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 824 24 6511;
fax: +81 824 24 6904.
E-mail addresses: ducanhy2000@yahoo.com (P.D. Uy),
nobu@hiroshima-u.ac.jp (N. Nakagoshi).
(Beatley, 2000).
Urban green spaces, an important part of urban
ecosystems, play a pivotal role in preserving biodiversity
in urban areas. Moreover, green spaces sequester CO2
(Nowak, 1993; Nowak and Crane, 2002; McHale et al.,
2007) and produce O2 (Jo, 2002); they reduce air
pollution (Yang et al., 2005); and noise (Fang and Ling,
2003); regulate microclimates, reduce the heat island
effect in cities (Shin and Lee, 2005); affect house prices
(Kong et al., 2007); maintain diversity; have recreational
and social values (Tarrant and Cordell, 2002); and
produce a vitamin ‘‘G’’ for health, well-being and social
safety (Groenewegen et al., 2006). Gilbert (1989) said

1618-8667/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2007.09.002
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
26 P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40
that factors such as the size, shape, diversity, history,
and distribution of green spaces within a city as well
as the design and management of the green spaces
individually, play a decisive role in defining the
functions of them. Therefore, identifying suitable sites
for conserving and developing green spaces is the first
important step to ensure their roles and functions. Site
information can be gained by using land suitability
analysis (LSA) based on GIS which is a strong, efficient
and effective application within land-use planning,
habitat analysis, etc. (Miller et al., 1998; Kalogirou,
2002; Malczewshi, 2004; El-Nahry and Khashaba, 2006;
Gillenwater et al., 2006). Applying the ecological factor
threshold method will help quantify how much green
area is necessary to maintain an ecological balance in
urban areas (Zhang et al., 2007), and using an urban
forest effects model (UFORE) will help quantify key
values of urban green spaces such as carbon storage and
sequestration (Nowak et al., 2003; United States
Department of Agriculture, 2006). More importantly,
the roles and functions of urban green spaces can be
enhanced if they are organized by combining a variety of
green space types for multiple purposes called a green
network or urban green structure.
Urban green structure is a concept used in most Nordic
countries with varying interpretations and legal status.
Green structure is the arrangement of green spaces in
terms of their composition and configuration. The
composition of green spaces expresses what kind of green
spaces exist and their configuration encompasses their
size, shape and distribution. Pauleit and Kaliszuk (2005)
have shown that the overall green structure of a city
results from the interaction of natural and human
processes over time including a pre-urban layer of natural
and cultural landscapes, an urban layer with the distribu-
tion of these green spaces following the urban develop-
ment patterns, and an infrastructure layer including roads
and other linear infrastructures. In the approach of urban
green structure or urban green network, the important
concept of the greenway is an adaptation from western
countries such as Germany since the 1980s, where
greenways were first established to prevent urban sprawl,
separate settlements, make recreational opportunities, and
improve air quality in industrialized urban areas (Haaren
and Reich, 2006). Moreover, Taylor et al. (1995) also
showed the limitations of greenbelts in planning urban
areas and described the evolution from a greenbelt
approach to a more holistic greenway in Canada over a
40 year period. Thus, nowadays, the greenway movement
has become important in urban planning, conservation
and landscape ecology all over the world. For example, in
Asia Yokohari et al. (2006) outlined the history and future
directions of greenways in Japanese New Towns, whilst
Yu et al. (2006) introduced the evolution of greenways in
China and Tan (2006) showed a greenway network for
Singapore. Ahern (1995) indicated that greenways are
Land suitability Finding suitable sites for
analysis based on GIS developing urban green spaces
Ecological element Quantifying urban green
threshold method spaces
Landscape ecology Organizing urban green spaces
principles
Fig. 1. The steps involved in the development of green spaces
in Hanoi.
networks of land containing linear elements that are
planned, designed, and managed for multiple purposes
including ecological, recreational, cultural, aesthetic, or
other purposes compatible with the concepts of sustain-
able land use. Moreover, greenways are often coordinated
with other planning features and purposes for example,
large cities often integrate greenway concepts and the
development of a green belt, thus forming a green
structure in and around the city that allows movement
of urban expansions in different directions. All this
functional knowledge can be acquired by applying land-
scape-ecology principles. The application of landscape-
ecology knowledge, the principles of planning landscapes
in general, and planning green structure in particular meet
the requirements of sustainable developments, ecological
conservation, aesthetic values, recreation, economic and
environmental considerations (Leitão and Ahern, 2002;
Jim and Chen, 2003; European Commission, 2005; Li
et al., 2005).
The purpose of this study is to answer the question of
how to apply LSA modeling, the ecological factor
threshold method, and landscape-ecology principles in
planning comprehensive green structure (Fig. 1), for the
case of Hanoi, Vietnam. The results will contribute to
programming effective land use up to 2020.
Data and methods
Study area
Hanoi – the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,
is the political–economic–cultural–scientific and technolo-
gical center of the whole country with a latitude from 201530
to 211230 north, and longitude from 1051440 to 1061020 east.
Hanoi is an ancient city with nine urban districts and five
rural districts. The city has been developing for almost 1000
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40
Fig. 2. The study area of Hanoi, Vietnam.
years, i.e. since its establishment in 1010. It is located in the
center of the Northern Delta with a population of 3,055,300
(2004), and an area of 920.97 km2 (of which downtown
area: 150 km2). The downtown area of Hanoi city was
selected for this study (Fig. 2).
There are a variety of higher plant species in Hanoi
with 644 species belonging to 247 genera and 157
families. In particular, there are 13 valuable and rare
plant species (Yen, 2005) and 150 non-native species
belonging to 78 genera and 54 families (Ninh, 2005).
Method
Land suitability analysis
In this study, LSA for building a green space map was
carried out based on air pollution maps, water body
27
system maps, existing land-use maps, maps of valuable
historical and cultural landscapes, and the Vietnamese
standards for planning and designing urban and
industrial areas. The LSA was supported by the spatial
analysis functions of GIS through steps including:
identification and collection of spatial data, weighting
with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), data
integration and GIS analysis, and output evaluation
(Fig. 3). Among the environmental functions of urban
green spaces, air quality was selected because of its
importance and availability of data. For existing land-
use systems this is a significant input because it expresses
the human impact, and influences the feasibility of
developing urban green spaces. The existing land use,
which includes basic habitat information, has been
classified into real green spaces or evergreen spaces
(parks, public green spaces, riverside green spaces,
roadside green spaces, attached green spaces), non-real
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
28 P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40

Maps of air Maps of existing Maps of body Maps of industrial Maps of

pollution land use water system zone landscape

Suitability scores and Raster

Weighting based on AHP

GIS analysis (Overlap)

Output evaluation and comparison

Fig. 3. Flowchart indicating the land suitability analysis for urban green space development in Hanoi.

green spaces or open green spaces (agricultural land,
cultivated alluvial land), built-up areas, and water body
systems (Fig. 2). Regarding water body systems and
valuable landscapes (historic, cultural sites such as
temples, palaces, etc. with reference to the traditional
Vietnamese way of life), almost all green spaces such
as parks and public green spaces have been developed
in conjunction with water bodies or historical and
cultural sites. In addition, green spaces, water bodies
and valuable landscapes are used in the strategic
planning of Hanoi city. Furthermore, Vietnamese
regulations and standards also play an important part
in developing urban green spaces and they decide how
green spaces will be developed. In LSA, determining the
suitability scores for each factor is a compulsory step,
and in this study they were regulated from 1 to 3
(Figs. 4(a–e)) where a higher score indicates an area
more suitable for developing green spaces. In the land
use map, for example, real green spaces receive the score
3 (highest suitability), open green spaces score 2, and
others are attributed score 1 (lowest suitability).
Weighting is one of the most important steps in
suitability analysis, as it precisely affects the output, and
is complicated by interacting of factors with each other.
AHP (Banai-Kashani, 1989) and pairwise comparison
of the criteria are widely used to identify weighting
scores, and they were applied in this study. The
MATLAB 5.3 software was used to solve the matrix
which results from AHP and pairwise comparison; and
the spatial function of the Arc GIS 9 (Arc/Info, release
version 9.1, ESRI, Redlands, CA 92373-8100, USA)
platform was used to overlay the factors to make a
composite map which acts as a suitable green map. This
was then compared with the 2020 Hanoi Master Plan.
The ecological factor threshold method
The ecological factor threshold method is implemen-
ted based on the principles of ecological balance. Thus,
the purpose of this step was to quantify how much green
area is needed for Hanoi in terms of maintaining
ecological balance. Zhang et al. (2007) applied this
method for planning urban green space systems based
on analyzing the key ecological elements including: the
population carrying capacity, carbon–oxygen balance,
and the supply–demand equilibrium of the water re-
sources. As shown by Zhang et al. (2007) the population
carrying capacity is the largest number of people that
food and energy produced by ecosystems can support
based on stated production conditions, land productiv-
ity, standard of living, and so forth. In Hanoi, this has
been identified in the 2020 Master Plan. The carbo-
n–oxygen balance is the most influential factor. It relates
to the total of carbon emission by human as well as
natural activities, and to absorbing carbon dioxide and
releasing oxygen in photosynthesis of green plants. In
green space planning, the carbon–oxygen balance is
carried on the basis of constant adjustment of green
plants of green spaces and various kinds of oxygen
consuming activities (Zhang et al., 2007). Water
resources are an essential factor for all creatures to
exist and develop. Thus, the supply–demand equilibrium
of water resources, which presents to an equilibrium of
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P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40
Fig. 4. Suitability scores for existing land use in Hanoi (a), industrial zone (b), valuable landscape (c), water body system (d), and air
quality (e).
demands (domestic, industrial agricultural consump-
tions) and supplies (rainfall, groundwater, etc.) is
important for sustainable development of human in
general and vegetation or green spaces in particular.
Landscape-ecology concepts for green structure
planning
Landscape ecology has opened the door to and
provides a basis for planning landscapes in general
and green networks in particular. Forman and Godron
(1986) proposed the model of patch, corridor and matrix
as the three basic components of any landscape, and
state that landscape ecology deals with the effects of the
spatial configuration of mosaics on a wide variety of
ecological phenomena. Landscape-ecology concepts and
29
applied metrics (Leitão and Ahern, 2002) are likely to be
useful in addressing the spatial dimension of sustainable
planning and they provide a theoretical basis for
landscape and urban planning. The landscape-ecology
principles used in planning land use and landscape
architecture (Dramstad et al., 1996) are patch size,
number and location; edge parameters (i.e. the bound-
ary with edge structure, and shape); corridors and
connectivity; and network mosaics. Jim and Chen (2003)
who applied comprehensive green space planning to
compact Nanjing city, China have shown that island
biogeography theory (MacArthur and Wilson, 1967)
and landscape ecology (Forman and Godron, 1986)
provide fundamental strategies for green space system
design. They comprise a network of greenways, green
wedges and green extensions, which linked isolated
green patches within and outside the city at three scales
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
30 P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40
(metropolis, city and neighborhood). Li et al. (2005) also
showed that according to the principles of landscape
ecology, green wedges and green corridors may com-
prise a suitable green network system in planning urban
greening in Beijing, China. Yokohari and Amati (2005)
proposed that urban parks need to be regarded as core
areas in the city, that an outer green belt is to surround
the city; and that green corridors along rivers and
streets will connect the cores and the outer areas. Thus,
an organization of urban green spaces based on
landscape-ecology principles, in respect to using linear
(e.g., greenways) and non-linear elements (e.g., parks),
encompasses the connectivity and networking of
green spaces in urban areas better than considering
them separately. In other words, ecological values
of a green network are better than those of the sum
of the green spaces individually, and the results of
green structure planning based on landscape-ecology
principles (connectivity, corridors, patch arrangement,
network mosaics) are a connected green network
including green wedges, green belts, green ways, green
cores, green extensions, etc., which are used in this
study. These are more likely to resist uncontrolled urban
development than individual green spaces and enhance
biodiversity.
Moreover, applying landscape-ecology principles to
green structure planning also conforms to four planning
strategies (Ahern, 1999): protective, defensive, offensive
or opportunistic; and to two patterns: nature in city and
city in nature (Yokohari and Amati, 2005).
Results
Constructing a green map based on LSA
Based on the AHP and pairwise comparison, with
the support of MATLAB software, we acquired the
weighting score for each factor and then used spatial
analysis function of GIS to produce a composite map
(Table 1 and Fig. 5).
A comparison of the composite map and the Hanoi
Master Plan showed that there is compatibility between
the two maps. It means that almost all the sites planned
for developing green spaces in the 2020 Hanoi Master
Plan (Fig. 6) are suitable.
Table 1. The weighting score for each factor to develop the composite map
Factor Air pollution Water systems Industrial
zones
Weighting 0.2506 0.2555 0.1544
score
The ecological factor threshold method
Regarding population capacity, according to the 2020
Hanoi Master Plan, Hanoi population will reach 4.5–5
million, of which the urban population would be around
2–2.5 million. This will be considered the population
carrying capacity for the city. According to the Human
Development Report 2006 (UNDP, 2006), the per capita
carbon dioxide emission of Vietnam is 0.9 tons per year
(equally: 0.6 tons of O2 consumption). Therefore, the
total oxygen consumption by the urban population will
reach around 1.2–1.5 million tons, with an assumption
that there would be no change of this index until 2020.
Regarding the supply–demand equilibrium for water
resources, some studies (e.g., Ngoc et al., 1997) have
shown that the total amount of water supply in Hanoi is
enough to match the development of the city until the
year 2020.
The carbon–oxygen balance was analyzed based on
the carbon dioxide consumption of trees. Tung (2002)
estimated that in urban areas, there were around
500,000 trees over an area of 354.52 ha or an equivalent
of 1321 trees per ha. The per capita green area in the
2020 Hanoi Master Plan in downtown areas is 18 m2 a
total of 3600–4500 ha. Based on an estimate of Zhang
et al. (2007), for ‘good’ green spaces (forests, parks,
etc.), the annual per hectare O2 production of trees is
around 70 tons. Therefore, the total oxygen production
up to 2020 equals to 252,000–315,000 tons. Considering
the carbon–oxygen balance, a serious imbalance is
readily apparent. To retain a balance, downtown Hanoi
needs support from outside ecosystems with a green area
from 13,542 to 16,928 ha. At present, in the suburban
areas, Hanoi has a forestry area of 6700 ha. Therefore,
Hanoi needs to develop an extra green area from 6842 to
10,228 ha. The next step would be to consider how to
organize urban green spaces to optimize their benefits by
using landscape-ecology principles.
Application of landscape-ecology principles
A review of green structure in Hanoi
At present, Hanoi city resembles a hybrid of the basic
forms (linear, centralized and gridiron), which express
physical and cultural influences through time. Accord-
ing to the 2020 Hanoi Master Plan, the city will be
planned and developed following a centralized form
Existing land Valuable Overlaying to
use landscape create the
composite map
0.02959 0.0437
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40 31

Fig. 5. The composite green map for Hanoi.

where the city center is marked by the ancient quarter.
The Hanoi government will control the urban sprawl
process by constraining the development of the down-
town area and by developing satellite cities. A review of
the 2020 Hanoi Master Plan (Fig. 6) uses urban
population density targets set at an average of 100 m2/
person, and includes an allocation of 18 m2/person
(around 4500 ha) for green spaces, parks and sporting
facilities. A greenbelt will be created with a width of
1–4 km for natural and ecological preservation.
In 2005, green structure planning was studied for a
150 km2 area of downtown Hanoi with the regional,
city, and neighborhood scales. These studies were
projected to the 2020. The 2020 green structure plan in
Hanoi is thus a combination of linear and non-linear
elements.
Green structure at region scale
Green wedges. ‘‘The green wedge is composed of
parks, gardens, farmlands, rivers and wetlands. Green
wedges and green corridors form an integrated ecologi-
cal network by connecting the urban center, forest
parks, mountains and the outer regional spaces’’ (Li
et al. 2005, p. 332). Jim and Chen (2003) have shown
that it is necessary to limit or prohibit the development
activities inside and near green wedges. Based on the
2020 Hanoi Master Plan, landform data, landscape-
ecology principles, and an assessment of the planned
green spaces, three green wedges were proposed to
connect outer green spaces and inner green spaces
(Fig. 7). This is regarded as an offensive strategy
of green structure planning, and brings nature into
the city.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
32 P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40

Fig. 6. The 2020 Hanoi Master Plan.

Green structure at the city scale
Greenbelts. Greenbelts can be understood to be
narrow strips of parkland more or less encircling part
of a built-up metropolitan area or large urban area
(Osborn, 1969). As mentioned above, Hanoi intends to
develop a greenbelt with a width from 1 to 4 km.
However, it is difficult to use one green belt to resist
urbanization because it is easily encroached on by the
urban sprawl process and easily breached by urban leap-
fog growth. Li et al. (2005) have pointed out the
limitations of greenbelt planning in Beijing, China.
Taylor et al. (1995) have presented the influence of
greenbelts adjacent to urban area, in cases that have
been ineffective in controlling urban growth outside of
the greenbelt. From this perspective, the green structure
of Hanoi should be augmented by an inner greenbelt at
the present peri-urban areas (Fig. 8). This greenbelt is
to be based on graph theory and gravity modeling with
33 green nodes, representing not only a zone for
conservation but also a transitional zone with the
function of resisting the urban sprawl, constraining the
urban development, maintaining biodiversity, and en-
hancing recreation. Moreover, almost all industrial
zones in Hanoi are mainly concentrated in this belt
area including Caudien, Namthanglong, Thuongdinh,
Vandien, Giapbat, Vinhtuy, Saidong, and Ducgiang.
These industrial zones are embedded in Hanoi as a belt
and make air pollution more serious. Therefore,
maintaining this proposed greenbelt is necessary not
only for the above benefits but also for improving the
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P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40
Fig. 7. The proposed green wedges for Hanoi.
urban environment as required in the Vietnamese
standard (TCVN 4616, 1987) for planning industrial
zones.
Parks and other public green spaces. At present, there
are 54 important green spaces in the Hanoi downtown
area. In fact, it is hard to expand them or build new
ones in the built-up areas. As a result, maintaining them
is very important in retaining nature in the city.
Maintaining an inner green belt with 33 green nodes
will help provide good opportunities to develop parks
and other public green spaces. Planning parks and
other public green spaces at the city scales reflects a
defensive strategy for planning green structure. Such
parks and public green spaces can be connected by
corridors such as road greenways. According to the
Vietnamese standard TCXDVN 362 (2005), the per
capita area for parks and flower gardens is about 7–9
33
and 3–3.3 m2, respectively or equivalent to a total of
2500–3075 ha.
Green structure at the neighborhood scale
Attached green spaces. Each part of downtown Hanoi
is a mixture of residential, industrial, business and
organization-owned areas where each of them is
allocated a plot of land with scant space for developing
green space. These green spaces are distributed unevenly
and are somewhat isolated. Attached green spaces are
composed of organization-owned green spaces, residen-
tial green spaces, etc., which play an important role in
providing opportunities for residents to get in contact
with nature. Besides this, their function is to enhance
local beauty, and to act as ecological stepping stones.
One solution is to restore and insert these green spaces
in built-up areas such as rooftop greening, balcony
greening, sidewall greening. The development of this
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34 P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40
Fig. 8. The proposed greenbelt for Hanoi.
green space type represents an opportunistic strategy of
sheltering trees in green structure planning.
Road greenways. Road greenways are an important
component of greenway networks in urban areas. In
Hanoi there are some species which have been asso-
ciated with some roads for a long time and have become
a symbol of these roads such as Alstonia scholaris (L.) R.
Br in Nguyendu street or Dracontomelum duperreanum
Pierre species in Phandinhphung street. One of the
typical characteristics of roads in Hanoi is that they
are narrow with scant space for pavement, especially in
the ancient quarter. It is hard to plant or expand the
area for trees in the available roadside settings, however
the construction of new roads or reconstruction of old
roads will give opportunity to develop greenways.
Regarding transportation planning of the Hanoi Master
Plan up to the year 2020, the roads (number 1, 2, 3, 5, 6,
18, 32, Lang-Hoalac highway, and ring road 1, 2, 3) will
be reconstructed or constructed. As a result, greenway
planning was proposed as shown in Fig. 7, with the
per capita roadside green space about 1.7–2 m2, or
425–500 ha total.
Riparian green spaces. As a result of landform or
watershed development there are many lakes, rivers,
creeks and canals in Hanoi. They play an important role
in maintaining the urban environment, providing
recreational areas, and in acting as corridors with
functions that includes habitat, conduit, filter, source
and sink (Forman and Godron, 1986). Riparian areas
also play an important role in controlling floods and
supplying an important habitat area for wildlife. There-
fore, the proposed riparian green spaces would follow
along riverbanks or flood places of the Hong River,
which are cultivated sometimes in the year as shown in
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40 35

Fig. 9. The proposed greenways for Hanoi.

Fig. 9. In addition, in Hanoi, newly planted rows of
trees and shrubbery provide ecological protection of
landscapes between the banks of the rivers of Tolich,
Lu, Set, Kimnguu, Hong, Nhue, Calo and Duong. This
is included in the 2020 Hanoi Master Plan.
Discussion
Applying LSA based on GIS is a very useful and
effective tool in identifying suitable sites for developing
green spaces. To reduce the subjectiveness in analyzing
green space suitability, the AHP and pairwise compar-
ison process were used with the support of MATLAB
software in solving the eigenmatrix. The results show
that almost all planned green spaces in the 2020 Hanoi
Master Plan were compatible with our analysis. As
shown in Miller et al. (1998), this analysis is dependent
on many criteria and many data and it is an extremely
difficult task which should take into account natural,
social, and economic factors. This approach reflects
green space suitability more accurately, adequately,
and comprehensively. Regarding ecological and envir-
onmental significances, five principal components (air
environment, land use, water body system, valuable
landscape, and industrial zone) were selected for this
analysis. More importantly, this study has introduced a
useful, effective and efficient method for identifying
suitable sites for developing green spaces in urban areas.
Quantifying green areas is necessary for urban
planning and there are diverse ways to quantify such
green areas depending on the specific demands and
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36 P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40

Fig. 10. The proposed comprehensive green structure for Hanoi.

requirements of the city concerned. It was found that the
ecological factor threshold method is especially suitable
for quantifying green areas in the context of developing
countries. The results of this study show that the 18 m2
per capita green area seems not to be enough to
maintain an ecological balance in Hanoi. Thus, Hanoi
needs to develop an extra green space area of
6842–10,228 ha.
Green structure planning in Hanoi at the regional,
city, and neighborhood scales up to the year 2020
(Fig. 10) was based on landscape-ecology principles and
this green structure was developed as an integrated
green network. This network will guarantee the pre-
servation of ecological functions and processes as well as
the structure of the landscape. This is a conceptual
approach and no analysis of quantitative results was
done for each individual green space. Yet it will form
basis for organizing green infrastructure and building an
eco-city. Continuity and connectivity of green patches,
green cores or green hearts which are upheld by the
creation of corridors, road greenways and river green-
ways are important because Hobbs and Saunders (1990)
show that preserving parks is only a temporary solution,
and without connections between them, isolation and
loss of genetic diversity is imminent. An analysis of
green space organization in the 2020 Hanoi Master Plan
showed that green spaces would be somewhat fragmen-
ted and isolated. This would lead a reduction not only in
green space area but also in the quality of ecosystem
services, taking away the local inhabitants’ rights to
access these green spaces, and making urban environ-
mental issues more serious. A further point is that the
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40
2020 Plan seems to lack a theoretical basis or a holistic
framework for organizing green structure at different
scales. These shortcomings will be compensated for by
applying landscape-ecology principles, and the proposed
comprehensive green space framework aims at fulfiling a
number of fundamental landscape-ecology requirements
(Jim and Chen, 2003). The combination of various green
spaces to make a green network is very important in
planning green structure because it is very difficult to use
only one, or few different, kinds of green spaces to
maintain all the benefits of greening in urbanized areas.
Taylor et al. (1995) have shown that the reason for
failure of greenbelts in Canada was that the ecological
principles of maintaining connectivity by providing
spatially continuous corridors (Forman and Godron,
1986) were not employed in the greenbelt approach in
Ottawa. Thus the approach lacked many of the features
inherent in more contemporary greenways. Li et al.
(2005) demonstrated weaknesses in the current belt in
the 1992 Master Plan for Beijing. As a result, the two
greenbelts in Beijing have already been fragmented by
extensions of settlement areas. He concluded that the
greenbelt areas shown in the planning documents do not
conform to reality and the future population increase
will pose severe pressure on these green spaces. Thus,
there is a basic requirement that the planning and
development of green structure needs a multi-functional
approach. The combination of many different green
spaces into an integrated green framework in response
to pressure from urban development is desirable.
In the proposed Hanoi green structure at the regional
scale, three green wedges play a pivotal role in bringing
nature into the city and maintaining biodiversity. At the
city scale, an inner greenbelt was proposed which
offered the best potential for supporting an eco-net-
work. Moreover, it can be combined with the planned
outer greenbelt to control the urban sprawl process
more effectively and efficiently. Planning green wedges
and greenbelts represents offensive and defensive
strategies in green structure planning, respectively. At
the neighborhood scale, a network of road greenways
and riparian green spaces was proposed. The greenways
play a role as corridors in wildlife movement, and in
bringing nature to move deeply into the city. This
reflects a defensive and opportunistic strategy of green
structure planning. Maintaining parks, public green
spaces and attached green spaces is essential as part of a
protective strategy when planning. This study’s pro-
posed comprehensive green structure development,
which intend to last up to 2020, not only meets the
requirements of landscape-ecology principles (Forman
and Godron, 1986) but it is also feasible because a
comparable number of green spaces are in the year 2020
Hanoi Master Plan. The development of green wedges is
based on open space and agricultural land, however the
development and augmentation of other green spaces
37
such as road greenways, green cores and green links of
green cores in the inner greenbelt might be difficult due
to land budgeting and pressure of urban development.
In the other words, this green space system is facing with
some obstacles such as rapid urbanization, weakness in
controlling and managing urban development, land use
change, and economic growth. However, such pressures
can be managed if planners and decision-makers, i.e.
Hanoi government, understand the roles and impor-
tance of these green spaces in developing a sustainable
urban area. Three primary green wedges have been
designated to guard green spaces from encroachment,
with intervening spaces allowing for urban growth. It is
necessary to build countermeasures to avoid ecological
deterioration of sensitive areas by human development
activities. Li et al. (2005) show that measures regarding
legal, economic, institutional, social and technology
aspects to protect green spaces require particular
attention. Besides, compensation schemes, which reflect
the real value of green spaces, could become one of the
most important measures and some green spaces at
strategic locations should be identified and conserved.
For patch configuration of this proposed green
network, by creating a connected network which helps
enhance the size, location and number of patches the
spatial configuration of patches has been improved
through an improvement of the adjacency, connection
or juxtaposition. Moreover, with three proposed green
wedges which are created from agricultural areas
(introduced patches), wetlands (environmental patches)
and so forth, the quality and diversity of green patches
will be improved. As shown by Jim and Chen (2003), the
ideal landscape configuration is city patches encom-
passed within a green space matrix with diversified
habitats to foster biodiversity. It is apparent that these
proposed green patches have a high perimeter-to-area
ratio to maximize exchanges with the matrix environs.
In other words, an elongated patch with a longer border
of the proposed green network allows more interactions
with the surrounding matrix, and thus linear green
spaces should be incorporated into urban areas to
maximize edge effects or the linearity of the network
configuration suits the compact urban form (Jim and
Chen, 2003). In this proposed green network, the origin
of green patches is mainly introduced and environ-
mental patches, or planted patches and habitations. As
shown by Forman and Godron (1986), the matrix is the
most extensive and dominating landscape element.
Thus, in this study, it is expressed through a greater
relative area of green patches, the most connected
portion of the landscape, a predominant role in the
dynamics of the landscape. It is always somewhat
heterogeneous. However, the distinction between matrix
and patches at the regional scale is slightly different and
the rest of the matrix could be considered a patch. At the
city and neighborhood scales, the matrix of the green
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
38 P.D. Uy, N. Nakagoshi / Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 7 (2008) 25–40
network has a higher porosity and irrespective degree of
connectivity.
Finally, it is concluded that this proposed green
network helps green patches enhance the connectivity
and reduce fragmentation and isolation through the
linked and integrated greenway system. This improves
different attributes of fragmentation of green patches
such as density, isolation, size, shape, aggregation, and
boundary characteristics, and can act as a catalyst to
preserve existing green spaces and generate new ones.
The connections between the green enclaves can stem
the tendency to eliminate small and isolated green spaces
and connection increases habitat diversity and capability
to support flora and fauna, which in turn enhance
amenity value to humans (Jim and Chen, 2003; Li et al.,
2005). It is obvious that an increase of the density of
fragments of green patches leads a decrease of the
isolation of green patches geometrically. As mentioned
before, a system of greenways within the network can be
designed to improve the accessibility of green spaces
with footpaths, footbridges and over or underpasses.
Greenways can be established along twelve selected
roads equipped with widened amenity strips and road-
side trees with footbridges and underpasses for unin-
terrupted pedestrian-movement and to maximize
accessibility and connectivity of the greenways. The
riverside greenway can be used to create recreational
open spaces for people with easy access and bring
vitality to the downtown areas. At the neighborhood
scale, small green spaces provide to daily needs for
contact with nature as Nakagoshi et al. (2006) argued
that even small green parts are potential elements of
green networks in cities. A network of greenways and
green wedges is suggested to link isolated green patches
within and without the city. The linkage system at the
neighborhood scale aims at connecting existing isolated
residential green spaces with small green spaces.
One of important aspects in a program for developing
urban green spaces is a selection of strategic positions
for biodiversity conservation. In Hanoi, some parks
such as Lenin, Bacthao and Thule were established a
long time ago, during the French colonial period. They
have a higher biodiversity and are considered as green
cores in this green network. Besides, green spaces along
the Hong River and three green wedges also play an
extremely important role in maintaining and conserving
biodiversity for the city. In the tree-planting program, it
is necessary to give priority to native species which suit
to urban environment. This has been identified in the
Vietnamese standard TCVN 362 (2005), mentioning
species such as Hopea odorata Roxb, Tamarindus indica
L, Shorea roxburghii G. Don, Phoenix loureiri Kunth.,
Terminalia cattapa L., Delonix regia (Bojer ex Hook)
Raf., Lagerstroemia speciosa L. and so forth.
In Hanoi, there has recently been a growing aware-
ness about the roles and benefits of greening in
urbanized areas. As a result, planners and decision-
makers propose a combination of water bodies and
green areas, using cultural as well as historic values, in a
strategic concept for city planning in Hanoi. Thus, the
time seems right to discuss the mentioned plan with
them, i.e. Hanoi government and Department of
Planning and Architecture.
This comprehensive green structure plan is not only
based on landscape-ecology principles and island
biogeography theory but also complies with planning
strategies, viz: protective, defensive, offensive or oppor-
tunistic (Ahern, 1999). The proposed green structure in
this study also embraces the concept: nature in city and
city in nature (Yokohari and Amati, 2005). Landscape-
ecology principles are useful for, and fit the require-
ments of, green structure planning. This green network
will be a basis for planning, designing and organizing
green infrastructure whilst ensuring the sustainable
development of Hanoi city as an ‘‘eco-city’’ in the
future.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all members of the
Nakagoshi International Laboratory for giving their
assistances, and Mr. Nick Walker for English proof-
reading. This research was supported by the COE (the
21st Century Center of Excellence) Programme, Social
Capacity Development for Environmental Management
and International Cooperation in Hiroshima University,
Japan.
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