Guía de utilización de vegetación en espacios públicos urbanos: caso de aplicación en la ciudad de Cuenca

Abstract

Humanity is experiencing a process of urbanization never seen before. Creating better living conditions in cities is the concern of architects, both in urban planning and design. The sustainability of this process involves the incorporation of vegetation and green areas focused in public spaces to offset modernization. This incorporation is ineffective when carried out with only an aesthetic perspective. The selection of the vegetation must be of a technical nature, so that it includes the requirements and conditions of the environment, social, function and landscape context; meaning, it is fundamental to make a correct choice under parameters that consider the native flora as much for the benefits that they grant, be these shadow, delimitation of spaces, natural barriers, etc .; as for the natural ecosystem that results in the increase of avifauna and insects to those who vegetation provides food and shelter. These are important aspects to which those responsible for the design of towns have not given real importance. Considering all these particularities, we have seen the need to develop a Guide for the Appropriate Use of Vegetation in Urban Spaces, focused on native species, which allows having a clear concept of the different types of vegetation that can be used in the spaces of the city of Cuenca. We have considered previous works as a starting point in the development of this manual, as well as several documents dealing with this issue worldwide. Modernity in Cuenca has arrived. Exotic aesthetics has gained ground in the landscape and urban design of current professionals. The present work has been done so that all people involved in this process of spacial transformation, consider the use of native vegetation when designing and adapting green areas, not ignore it on the pretext of not having a guide that allows them to handle it.