Abstract The concept of green infrastructure has been rapidly adopted by several disciplines and is increasingly appearing in policy discussions. While the use of the term has recently expanded, there is no single definition of green infrastructure. To date most of the research examining green infrastructure in policy has occurred in Europe and the US, and to a lesser extent Asia, highlighting differences in the term’s meaning between these regions. Green infrastructure has also recently become part of policy discourse in Canada, but it is unclear how widespread its use is or how it is being defined in a Canadian policy context. This study examines inclusion of the term ‘green infrastructure’, and the broader ideas it represents, in municipal policy through a content analysis of 81 municipal plans from the 25 municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area (Ontario, Canada). Examined plans includes those addressing land use, urban forests, stormwater and other relevant sectors. We found that the term appears in 30 % of the examined municipal plans, with three distinct definitions used: living green infrastructure, non-living green infrastructure and ‘greening’ gray infrastructure. Closely related terms (e.g., low impact development) and incorporation of the concept of green infrastructure without using the specific term are more common than direct references to green infrastructure. The variety of terminology and definitions incorporated into the municipal plans raise questions about potential confusion around basic policy goals associated with green infrastructure.

中文翻译：

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市政政策中绿色基础设施的分析：大多伦多地区的不同含义和术语

摘要 绿色基础设施的概念已被多个学科迅速采用，并越来越多地出现在政策讨论中。虽然该术语的使用最近有所扩大，但绿色基础设施没有单一的定义。迄今为止，在政策中检验绿色基础设施的大多数研究发生在欧洲和美国，亚洲的情况较少，突出了这些地区之间该术语含义的差异。绿色基础设施最近也成为加拿大政策讨论的一部分，但目前尚不清楚它的使用有多广泛，或者它在加拿大的政策背景下是如何定义的。本研究考察了“绿色基础设施”一词的包含及其所代表的更广泛的思想，通过对大多伦多地区（加拿大安大略省）的 25 个城市的 81 个市政计划的内容分析，在市政政策方面的研究。审查的计划包括解决土地利用、城市森林、雨水和其他相关部门的计划。我们发现该术语出现在 30% 的审查市政计划中，使用了三个不同的定义：生活绿色基础设施、非生活绿色基础设施和“绿化”灰色基础设施。密切相关的术语（例如，低影响开发）以及在不使用特定术语的情况下纳入绿色基础设施概念比直接提及绿色基础设施更为常见。纳入市政计划的各种术语和定义引发了关于与绿色基础设施相关的基本政策目标的潜在混淆的问题。