**1. Introduction**

Landscape fragmentation affects habitats and wildlife and causes loss of connectivity [7–9]. The detrimental effects of fragmentation can be avoided or minimised by the creation of new habitats and/or the protection of existing habitats by ensuring more connected habitat patches (or the networks of habitats/green and open spaces). Hence, the growing awareness of the need for connected habitats/green and open spaces was reflected in planning approaches such as greenbelts and linked park systems, greenways, ecological networks, green networks and green infrastructure (GI).

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These approaches have their own planning aims and strategies, in particular in the early stages of their development. But they have become closer with regard to their common concerns and the underlying concept of landscape connectivity to identify their spatial configuration. In the context of this chapter, the theoretical and scientific background of different network ap‐ proaches has been reviewed.

The scope of early landscape planning approaches to networks was limited by their foci, where the spatial planning of nature and human dimensions has been treated as separate sectors. However, nature conservation and landscape planning practices have started to evolve into more integrated and multidisciplinary approaches, which are centered on the concepts of sustainability and multifunctionality [6, 10, 11].

A more recent planning approach is GI and it is thought to be able to ensure the multifunc‐ tionality of different land uses and provide sustainable benefits to nature, biodiversity and people from available land in and around urban environments. However, there is still need for a more robust decision-making structure and feasible planning approach as well as a measurable and traceable tool to planning GI in order to achieve these goals.

This chapter reviews and discusses the literature on landscape ecology applications in landscape planning with an emphasis on sustainability in urban environments. The chapter starts with urbanisation as an issue and explains how it leads to fragmentation and the loss of connectivity. After giving a brief overview of issues related to fragmentation, it moves on to the relationship between urbanisation and sustainability. Thereafter, it introduces different ways in which networks have been developed in ecology and planning to mitigate the adverse effects of fragmentation by enhancing landscape connectivity.
