<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="663" style="border-collapse:collapse;"><tr style="height:20.1pt;"><td style="width:497pt;padding:0.75pt 0.75pt 0pt 0.75pt;border-top:none;border-right:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none" valign="top" width="663"><span><span>Green areas of all kinds have gained significance for contemporary urban planning. In addition to the importance for the structure and appearance of urban spaces, these areas have very different social, ecological and economic functions. For instance, they can serve as relaxation and communication rooms, or as habitats for flora and fauna they can have an extremely positive influence on the micro-climate, not to mention the increasing attention they receive from the real estate business as a factor in site evaluation.<br/>This volume presents a broad spectrum of green areas from around the world, like urban parks, green facades, public gardens and green city squares. The interplay of international trends, regional characteristics and local traditions is especially interesting. The selection of projects shows the various tendencies of this discipline at the junction of landscape architecture and urban planning.</span></span><br /></td></tr></table><span><span> </span></span>