Characterization of non-urbanized areas for land-use planning of agricultural and green infrastructure in urban contexts

► Non Urbanised Areas (NUAs) have a crucial role in ecosystem service provision. ► NUAs are endangered by urban sprawl processes in metropolitan areas. ► A method for NUAs characterization based on 5 different analytical phases is proposed. ► Results from the method are used to define a new scenario of land uses for NUAs. ► This scenario is aimed at the protection and enhancing of urban ecosystem services.