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Greenbelt policies were designed more than a century ago in Europe to control urban growth, preserve agricultural land and conserve nature, although they have repeatedly failed in their attempt to contain the urban sprawl. Gradually, these initiatives have been incorporating new functions such as the provision of ecosystem services, with special emphasis on the provision of ecosystem services. In Europe, various studies indicate that there has been an evolution from greenbelts, designed as a containment line for urban growth, to green infrastructures, more permeable and connected. In this article, we explore these dynamics by comparing the cases of three green rings, Ottawa and Ontario in Canada and São Paulo in Brazil, implemented in America. The cases show the consolidation of these initiatives and their evolution towards broader green infrastructures, although with uneven results in the fulfillment of the policy objectives, since a high governance capacity is required to carry out complex coordinated management between the various levels of governments, the different municipalities and other private and public interests involved in green infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]