Journal articles on the topic 'Environmental justice, urban planning, nature-based solutions, ecosystem services'

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are an innovative concept that mimics the processes of natural ecosystems, popularized principally in the European Union. With a substantial body of literature amassed since the term’s inception in 2015, there is a need to systematically review existing literature to identify overarching gaps and trends, according to disciplinary focus, geographic scope, and key themes, and direct future research inquiry and policy recommendations. This review consists of bibliometric analysis and thematic analysis for NBS studies in urbanism. NBS studies were found to relate strongly with other concepts of ‘Ecosystem Services’, ‘Green Infrastructure’, ‘Climate Change’, and ‘Risk management and Resilience’, which align with four major thematic goals set by the European Commission. Within NBS scholarship, various sub-themes have emerged, namely, ‘Greening’, ‘Urban Development’, ‘Water’, ‘Wellbeing’, and ‘Governance’. Furthermore, we illustrate that the amount and thematic focus of NBS research have been unevenly distributed worldwide. Analysis of emerging trends shows a recent increase in topics, such as adaptive governance of NBS, and the incorporation of social justice in sustainability transitions. Based on an assessment of extant NBS literature, we offer some recommendations for the future direction of the research fields.

The quality of life in our cities critically depends on the intelligent planning and shaping of urban living space, in particular urban nature. By providing a wide range of ecosystem services (ES), urban nature essentially contributes to the well-being of city dwellers and plays a major role in avoiding common diseases through its positive impact on physical and mental health. Health is one of the most important factors underlying human welfare and is, thus, vital to sustainable development. The ES of urban green space provide other social-cultural functions alongside public health, for example by fostering environmental justice and citizenship participation. Thus, they should always be considered when searching for solutions to urban problems. The aim of this research was to determine the impact of green areas in three selected cities on the health and well-being of people by self-reporting of green areas’ visitors. To this end, we posed the research question: which types and characteristics of urban green space are most appreciated by city dwellers? Based on our findings, we have drawn up recommendations for practices to promote better living conditions. We have also pinpointed obstacles to and opportunities for leisure time activities as well as ways of supporting the public health of citizens.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are currently being deployed in many European Commission Horizon 2020 projects in reaction to the increasing number of environmental threats, such as climate change, unsustainable urbanization, degradation and loss of natural capital and ecosystem services. In this research, we consider the application of NBS as a catalyst for social inclusivity in urban regeneration strategies, enabled through civic participation in the co-creation of green interventions with respect to social cohesion and wellbeing. This article is focused on a social monitoring framework elaborated within the H2020 CLEVER Cities project, with the city of Milan as a case study. Firstly, we overviewed the major regeneration challenges and expected co-benefits of the project, which are mainly human health and wellbeing, social cohesion and environmental justice, as well as citizen perception about safety and security related to the NBS implementation process. Secondly, we examined the relevance of using NBS in addressing social co-benefits by analyzing data from questionnaires against a set of five major indicators, submitted to citizens and participants of activities during pre-greening interventions: (1) Place, use of space and relationship with nature, (2) Perceived ownership and sense of belonging, (3) Psychosocial issues, social interactions and social cohesion, (4) Citizen perception about safety and security, and lastly, we analyzed (5) knowledge about CLEVER interventions and NBS benefits in relation to socio-demographics of the questionnaires’ respondents. Thirdly, we cross-referenced a wind-rose multi-model of co-benefits analysis for NBS across the regeneration challenges of the project. Because of the COVID-19 emergency, in this research we mainly focused on site observations and online questionnaires, as well as on monitoring pre-greening scenarios in three Urban Living Labs (ULLs) in Milan, namely CLEVER Action Labs. Lastly, this study emphasizes the expected social added values of NBS impact over long-term urban regeneration projects. Insights from the pre-greening surveys results accentuate the importance of the NBS interventions in citizens’ perceptions about their wellbeing, general health and strong sense of neighborhood belonging. A wider interest towards civic participation in co-management and getting informed about NBS interventions in the Milanese context is also noted.

The global nature-climate crisis along with a fundamental shift in world population towards cities and towns has sharpened the focus on the role of urban green infrastructure. Green infrastructure has the potential to deliver cost-effective, nature-based solutions to help mitigate problems of climate change as well as provide improved human well-being through the ecosystem services inherent in landscapes rich in biodiversity. The absence of under-pinning science, specifically complex systems science and ecosystem theory in the design and planning of urban green infrastructure, has limited the capacity of these landscapes to deliver ecosystem services and to effectively demonstrate natural resilience to the impacts of climate change. To meet future challenges of environmental uncertainty and social change, the design of urban green space should embrace an adaptive ecosystem-based approach that includes fully integrated participatory planning and implementation strategies founded on principles of close to nature science. Our article offers two models to inform green space planning: urban green space framework and sustainable urban community network. Both concepts provide the foundation for six ecosystem-based design principles. In a case study on Essex green infrastructure, UK, recommendations made by the Essex Climate Action Commission to transform land management practices are presented as examples of adopting principles of the ecosystem approach and nature-based science. Our article concludes by emphasising the importance of reconnecting society with nature in cities through close-to-nature design of urban green space to secure essential ecosystem services and to build resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Green and blue infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and cultural and built heritage play a key role in enhancing ecosystem services provision and shaping urban quality and communities’ wellbeing calling for an integrated approach to ecosystem services in urban policy and planning and decision-making. On the other side, under-used spaces and buildings have social, cultural, economic, as well as ecological functions and benefits, which are essential to sustainable urban development. The EU has been developing and implementing policies for an integrated approach to urban development and sustainable land use through the implementation of the Urban Agenda for the EU and fourteen associated Partnerships. Thus, it engaged a broad range of institutions and stakeholders across Europe in promoting local projects and sharing best practices on sustainable land use and nature-based solutions, the circular economy, and cultural heritage. This paper reviews the experiences of cities involved in the Partnerships of the Urban Agenda for the EU by illustrating how they related to different modes of ecosystem governance and associated challenges, discussing how three case studies integrate different dimensions of ecosystem services and regeneration in under-used areas and what type of knowledge as well as regulation and governance modes they have developed for supporting innovation in land use planning and management for urban ecosystem services. The results show that appropriate alternative regulations and policies are little explored and that cities adopt an integrated approach, combining cultural, environmental, economic, and social dimensions in their interventions, directly or indirectly enhancing the benefits of built and natural heritage and urban ecosystems in under-used areas. However, some issues, such as nature-based solutions and climate change, are still partially integrated into the projects while priority is given to the cultural, aesthetic, and economic dimensions.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are innovative approaches oriented to address societal and environmental challenges. Increasing the interest to implement NbS in cities is strongly connected with their inclusion as potential measures in urban planning. The aim of our article was to assess the inclusion of NbS in Romanian urban development strategies. We used an evaluation matrix to systematically extract data from 249 urban development strategies. Using content analysis, we assessed the level of inclusion of NbS in different sections of the strategies. Only 10% of urban strategies include different aspects related to NbS concepts, while 40% of the documents are linking NbS to objectives. More than a third of the documents focused on the creation, modernization and maintenance of green areas meanwhile ecosystem services were not presented as specific benefits. This scarce presence of NbS in urban strategies warns about limited consideration of innovative approaches in urban planning, which could influence the capacity of Romanian cities to handle climate changes and to become more sustainable, resilient, and equitable.

Abstract Analysis of urban green infrastructure is used to identify the concepts of its planning, implementation, and management at the level of the whole city as well as its individual parts. Green infrastructure, as a planned network of natural and semi-natural elements in cities, delivers a wide range of ecosystem services and improves urban environmental conditions. Planning the network of green infrastructure becomes a standard part of urban and spatial planning. Implementation strategies of green infrastructure in urban environment include applications of new specific elements and nature-based solutions. Green infrastructure research covers a wide range of topics. Our research focuses on the selected aspects of spatial analysis of green infrastructure in the city of Warsaw: distribution of main public green areas at the urban scale – forests and parks in the urban fabric, the forms of their protection, the use of linear elements of green infrastructure along communication routes, and the implementation of new elements of nature-based solutions in the urban environment – green roofs, green facades, and rain gardens. Based on the analysis of the studied selected aspects, recommendations were formulated for strengthening the interconnectivity of the green infrastructure system at an urban scale and implementation of new green infrastructure elements and in the intensively built-up districts where the number and size of green areas are insufficient.

Worldwide, national governments and private organizations are increasingly investing in Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to foster both human well-being and biodiversity while achieving climate and environmental targets. Yet, investments in NBS remain uncoordinated among planning levels, their co-benefits underestimated, and their effectiveness undermined. This study aims to provide a spatially explicit approach to optimize the budget allocation for NBS implementation across Italian urban areas while maximizing their effectiveness in terms of environmental health. We explored three different NBS implementation scenarios oriented to (i) maximize the Ecosystem Services supply of NBS (Scenario BP), (ii) minimize costs of NBS (Scenario LC), and (iii) maximize Ecosystem Services supply of NBS at the lowest cost (Scenario CP). Once selected, we prioritized their allocation through the territory following an environmental risk index for population, and we explored the relationship between costs and effectiveness for the three scenarios. The implementation of Scenario BP costs EUR 777 billion while showing 31 billion of effectiveness. Scenario LC costs 70% less than scenario BP (EUR 206 billion) while losing 70% of its effectiveness. Scenario CP costs 60% less than Scenario BP (EUR 301 billion), offering just 20% less effectiveness. Our results show that employing the risk index for NBS allocation would allow for reducing the surface of interventions by saving 67% of the budget in the three scenarios with a negligible loss in terms of return for human health. The here-proposed approach can guide the national funds’ allocation system, improving its cost-effectiveness and equitableness.

Blue and Green Infrastructure (BGI) provide one of the key Nature Based Solution (NBS) approaches for sustainable stormwater management in cities, in conjunction with extending the scope of Ecosystem Services (ES). In both the process of planning and designing highly urbanized areas, the implementation of BGI is important for the improvement of living conditions and counteracting the negative effects of climate change. Based on the literature review, 19 BGI solutions were identified and then valorized in relation to the following three key aspects: spatial and functional, environmental, and social. The results of the assessment were derived using the scoring method and allowed for the identification of BGI solutions with a high, medium or low value for shaping sustainable urban public spaces. Using the potential of analyzed BGI solutions to improve the functioning and attractiveness of urban areas requires a comprehensive approach. Conscious planning and designing should use the knowledge presented to make the implementation of BGI solutions as effective as possible in relation to the above-mentioned aspects of shaping urban public spaces.

Increasing urbanization and climate change challenges are leading to relevant environmental, economic and social pressures on European cities. These include increasing flood hazards and the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) are increasingly recognized within strategies to provide multiple ecosystem services to mitigate existing risks and pressures, as well as to make cities more resilient and livable. Although being increasingly addressed within the literature, NBS implementation on the ground still faces many technical and financial barriers. This paper aims to test the potential of selected NBS in mitigating the effects of identified climate change risks, i.e., the UHI effect and urban floods, in the Turin urban area (north-western Italy). Four different intervention NBS-based scenarios are developed. The supply of ecosystem services by NBS in each scenario is assessed using InVEST models and the effectiveness of NBS investments is analyzed by calculating and comparing the associated costs and benefits. Different results in terms of effectiveness and economic viability are observed for each scenario and each NBS. Flood risk mitigation oriented NBS seem to have the most impact, in particular forested green areas and retention ponds. The results are relevant to suggest policy mix strategies to embed NBS in city planning.

The European Union is significantly investing in the Green Deal that introduces measures to guide Member States to face sustainability and health challenges, especially employing Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in urban contexts. National governments need to develop appropriate strategies to coordinate local projects, face multiple challenges, and maximize NBS effectiveness. This paper aims to introduce a replicable methodology to integrate NBS into a multi-scale planning process to maximize their cost–benefits. Using Italy as a case study, we mapped three environmental challenges nationwide related to climate change and air pollution, identifying spatial groups of their co-occurrences. These groups serve as functional areas where 24 NBS were ranked for their ecosystem services supply and land cover. The results show eight different spatial groups, with 6% of the national territory showing no challenge, with 42% showing multiple challenges combined simultaneously. Seven NBS were high-performing in all groups: five implementable in permeable land covers (urban forests, infiltration basins, green corridors, large parks, heritage gardens), and two in impervious ones (intensive, semi-intensive green roofs). This work provides a strategic vision at the national scale to quantify and orient budget allocation, while on a municipal scale, the NBS ranking acts as a guideline for specific planning activities based on local issues.

Urban flooding has become a serious issue in most Chinese cities due to rapid urbanization and extreme weather, as evidenced by severe events in Beijing (2012), Ningbo (2013), Guangzhou (2015), Wuhan (2016), Shenzhen (2019), and Chongqing (2020). The Chinese “Sponge City Program” (SCP), initiated in 2013 and adopted by 30 pilot cities, is developing solutions to manage urban flood risk, purify stormwater, and provide water storage opportunities for future usage. Emerging challenges to the continued implementation of Sponge Cities include (1) uncertainty regarding future hydrological conditions related to climate change projections, which complicates urban planning and designing infrastructure that will be fit for purpose over its intended operating life, and (2) the competing priorities of stakeholders and their reluctance to make trade-offs, which obstruct future investment in the SCP. Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) is an umbrella concept that emerged from Europe, which encourages the holistic idea of considering wider options that combine “Blue–Green” practices with traditional engineering to deliver “integrated systems of Blue–Green–Grey infrastructure”. NBS includes interventions making use of natural processes and ecosystem services for functional purposes, and this could help to improve current pilot SCP practices. This manuscript reviews the development of the SCP, focusing on its construction and design aspects, and discusses how approaches using NBS could be included in the SCP to tackle not only urban water challenges but also a wide range of social and environmental challenges, including human health, pollution (via nutrients, metals, sediments, plastics, etc.), flood risk, and biodiversity.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are becoming popular in urban planning and policy making as cost-effective solutions capable of delivering multiple ecosystem services and addressing several societal challenges. So far, however, the cost-effectiveness of urban NBS projects has not been consistently quantified by built environment professionals, who lack user-friendly tools to account for the environmental costs and benefits of NBS. This paper presents a prototype online decision support tool (NBenefit$®) that calculates the negative and positive environmental impacts, externalities, and financial values of planned urban forests over their entire life cycle. NBenefit$ relies on a modelling framework that combines system dynamics, urban ecology, and life cycle thinking approaches, and it is presented as a visual web-based interface. An online map and a grid of cells is used to map the site of intervention, to delineate the size of the urban forest, and to define variations in abiotic, biotic, and management attributes in each site. Outputs are provided by year, for the entire site and NBS life cycle. The potential value of NBenefit$ as a supporting tool was exemplified with the calculation of 48 urban forest archetypes, a few of which were used to set scenarios for a hypothetical urban forest in Madrid (Spain). The results showcase the impact that decisions taken during the planning, design, or management of an NBS project may have on its long-term performance. Future works will expand the scope of NBenefit$, including other types of urban NBS.

The rising environmental issues on contemporary cities urgently calls for sustainable planning policies. Implementation of nature-based solutions, ecosystem services, and green infrastructures associated to green spaces management is at present of paramount importance. In contrast to policies mainly focused on public greenery, the inclusion of private green in planning strategies might be a promising pathway. The general aim is mapping and classifying urban green spaces in Padua, a city of 93.3 km2 (Northeast Italy). Specific aims are (i) testing an NDVI-derived extraction from very high-resolution orthophotos; (ii) classifying property status; (iii) highlighting multilevel relationships and strategies for urban green spaces implementation and management; (iv) assessing greenery in relation to per capita population. By performing remote sensing and GIS analyses, a first detailed global map of urban green spaces in Padua was created; then, binary classification and thematic maps for rural/non-rural, public/private, municipal/non-municipal greenery were produced for all urban units. Results show that, among total green spaces (52.23 km2), more than half are rural. Moreover, private green spaces represent 80%, while within public areas (20%) less than 10% are municipal (5 km2). We therefore highlight scenarios for planning policies in Padua by providing tools to policymakers for an integrated management of green spaces, where private greenery might also contribute to ecosystem services implementation for common urban well-being.

This opinion paper discusses urban lawns, the most common part of open green spaces and urban green infrastructures. It highlights both the ecosystem services and also disservices provided by urban lawns based on the authors’ experience of working within interdisciplinary research projects on lawns in different cities of Europe (Germany, Sweden and Russia), New Zealand (Christchurch), USA (Syracuse, NY) and Australia (Perth). It complements this experience with a detailed literature review based on the most recent studies of different biophysical, social, planning and design aspects of lawns. We also used an international workshop as an important part of the research methodology. We argue that although lawns of Europe and the United States of America are now relatively well studied, other parts of the world still underestimate the importance of researching lawns as a complex ecological and social phenomenon. One of the core objectives of this paper is to share a paradigm of nature-based solutions in the context of lawns, which can be an important step towards finding resilient sustainable alternatives for urban green spaces in the time of growing urbanisation, increased urban land use competition, various user demands and related societal challenges of the urban environment. We hypothesise that these solutions may be found in urban ecosystems and various local native plant communities that are rich in species and able to withstand harsh conditions such as heavy trampling and droughts. To support the theoretical hypothesis of the relevance of nature-based solutions for lawns we also suggest and discuss the concept of two natures—different approaches to the vision of urban nature, including the understanding and appreciation of lawns. This will help to increase the awareness of existing local ecological approaches as well as an importance of introducing innovative landscape architecture practices. This article suggests that there is a potential for future transdisciplinary international research that might aid our understanding of lawns in different climatic and socio-cultural conditions as well as develop locally adapted (to environmental conditions, social needs and management policies) and accepted nature-based solutions.

Rocinha (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is the largest favela in South America. It is located on a steep mountain slope in the Tijuca National Park with a population of over 160,000 living in poor environmental, health and hygiene conditions. The geomorphological and urban setting of Rocinha makes it vulnerable to natural hazards, with the greatest risk posed by flooding or landslides, compromising the precarious balance between ecosystem services (ES) provision and human well-being. The paper aims to assess and map ES provision in a context where available data to identify areas vulnerable to natural risks is limited. The ES analyses were adapted to the specific socio-economic and environmental context of favelas, which are characterised by dense, continuously built-up environment and a high proportion of impervious surfaces, leading to deteriorating environmental, health and hygiene conditions over time. The ES-based approach was pivotal for setting out strategies—including nature-based solutions (NBS)—to mitigate disaster risk and increase local resilience. These strategies were selected taking into account the context of Rocinha and feasibility. The research shows that ES assessment can be the starting point for projects based on NBS with a view to increasing resilience even in environmentally critical contexts.

Community gardens offer broad research opportunities and analytical resources encompassing urban planning to environmental sustainability, food systems, and social capital. However, little is known about the knowledge structure and research development related to community gardens. This study presents an in-depth bibliometric performance analysis and visual scientific mapping analysis of the literature on community gardens by examining 487 published papers selected from the Web of Science database. The results indicated a considerable rise in research papers in this subject area from 2012 onwards, with most contributions from the United States. Studies from high-income countries accounted for 93.22%, and 38 countries have cooperated 167 times in this field. “Health” is the most frequent keyword, and the terms “ecosystem services” has been gaining popularity over the last five years. A combination of co-citation clustering and keyword co-occurrence clustering analysis identified three major research themes in the field of community gardens: “ecosystem services and disservices”, “multidimensional association”, and “sustainable garden systems”. The development of ecosystem value assessment frameworks, the establishment of region-wide soil monitoring databases, accounting for the cost-effectiveness of nature-based solutions, the integration of garden systems into smart cities, and the integration of water management into regulation will be important future research directions regarding community gardens. Overall, this study provides scholars with a systematic and quantitative understanding of community gardens.

Although conservation and development are two facets of sustainability, they are often placed in contradictory positions. In this context, planning systems are able to respond to investment pressure, especially in countries with underdeveloped institutional solutions for this purpose, and are consequently characterized by a shifting relationship between spatial planning and environmental protection. Although these issues have been relatively well conceptualized, the literature still lacks more in-depth analyses of selected case studies. In order to fill the gap, this study aimed to identify potential ways to protect the environment and natural values in urban areas from investment pressures in countries with less developed planning systems, based on a comparative Polish-Romanian perspective. The method consisted of comparing the national legal frameworks for environmental protection and spatial development and analyzing in detail two case studies from each country. The findings indicate that national protection is required in both countries to ensure the effective protection of natural areas situated within city administrative limits that provide important ecosystem services. Moreover, the results reveal the need for more research on similar areas using multi-scale interdisciplinary approaches and reviewing planning theory with respect to its efficiency in protecting nature.

The rapid urbanization of cities has resulted in the deterioration of urban forests and the loss of important benefits from green infrastructure, such as the removal of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and carbon sequestration. The Mirador Sur Park is one of the main green spaces in the city of Santo Domingo. The objective of this research was to identify citizen participation in the design and management of urban forests as a strategy for guiding cities towards a more sustainable and resilient model in the face of climate change. In this study, changes in the park’s land use were identified, 136 park users were interviewed to find out their perception of the benefits of forest cover, and the ecosystem services of Mirador Sur Park were quantified using the i-Tree Canopy tool. It was found that the ecosystem services related to the removal of atmospheric pollutants are clearly perceived by the users of the park. However, there are other services that could not be identified if there is no relationship with the users of the park, such as those related to the benefits of human well-being. Citizens’ perception and appropriation are important elements for the co-management of the park, and it would be appropriate for them to become involved in the design and implementation of environmental public policies, as well as nature-based solutions, that contribute to adequate and inclusive urban planning aimed at adapting to climate change.

Urban Sprawl, and the fragmentation of the territory associated with it, are factors degrading the peri-urban areas in many European cities. The aim of this research is to investigate the role that Green Infrastructure (GI) and Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) can have in redefining peri-urban areas, relating urban and rural landscapes. The case study focuses on the Southern Milan periphery, at the rural-urban transition fringe; the transformation pressures, tendencies, and local activities are approached, and the main problems are juxtaposed to the potentialities, defining simultaneously the site’s vulnerability and latent resilience. The elaboration of a research-by-design approach focuses on the refurbishment and interconnection of disused open spaces and abandoned buildings: converting them in favor of a GI and NBS network, through a perspective of Ecosystem Services (ES) enhancement, but also encompassing cultural heritage and multicultural aspects. The overall design demonstrates the possibility of deploying an infiltration strategy, of the rural landscape into the urban fringe. The objective is to articulate a multiscalar methodology and give insights on how a GI network can rebalance urban-rural transitioning spaces and enhance ES, improving the quality of marginal spaces both in environmental and socio-cultural terms.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly being promoted as a means to address societal and environmental challenges, especially flood risk reduction. In the context of rapidly urbanizing catchments, NBS can take part of the development of sustainable cities, either by conserving peri-urban ecosystems from urban sprawl or by developing green infrastructure in the cities. Both can provide a wide range of co-benefits (e.g., climate regulation, air quality regulation), but also generate some negative effects (e.g., mobility issues, unsafety, allergens). We develop and implement a Discrete Choice Experiment survey to analyse people’s perception of co-benefits and negative effects, and associated preferences for the two types of NBS at a catchment scale. The results obtained from 400 households living in a French Mediterranean catchment highlight that people associate numerous co-benefits to NBS, but also negative effects. Our estimations reveal that resident households are ready to contribute large amounts through a tax increase for the development of NBS (from 140 to 180 EUR/year, on average). There is however a strong heterogeneity of preferences at the catchment scale influenced by income, location of the respondent along an urban–rural gradient, and perception of the importance of ecosystem services. These differences may reflect urban environmental inequalities at the catchment scale, which are important to take into account in order to avoid distributive inequalities.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly being promoted as a means to address societal and environmental challenges, especially flood risk reduction. In the context of rapidly urbanizing catchments, NBS can take part of the development of sustainable cities, either by conserving peri-urban ecosystems from urban sprawl or by developing green infrastructure in the cities. Both can provide a wide range of co-benefits (e.g., climate regulation, air quality regulation), but also generate some negative effects (e.g., mobility issues, unsafety, allergens). We develop and implement a Discrete Choice Experiment survey to analyse people’s perception of co-benefits and negative effects, and associated preferences for the two types of NBS at a catchment scale. The results obtained from 400 households living in a French Mediterranean catchment highlight that people associate numerous co-benefits to NBS, but also negative effects. Our estimations reveal that resident households are ready to contribute large amounts through a tax increase for the development of NBS (from 140 to 180 EUR/year, on average). There is however a strong heterogeneity of preferences at the catchment scale influenced by income, location of the respondent along an urban–rural gradient, and perception of the importance of ecosystem services. These differences may reflect urban environmental inequalities at the catchment scale, which are important to take into account in order to avoid distributive inequalities.

Water in the city is typically exploited in a linear process, in which most of it is polluted, treated, and discharged; during this process, valuable nutrients are lost in the treatment process instead of being cycled back and used in urban agriculture or green space. The purpose of this paper is to advance a new paradigm to close water cycles in cities via the implementation of nature-based solutions units (NBS_u), with a particular focus on building greening elements, such as green roofs (GRs) and vertical greening systems (VGS). The hypothesis is that such “circular systems” can provide substantial ecosystem services and minimize environmental degradation. Our method is twofold: we first examine these systems from a life-cycle point of view, assessing not only the inputs of conventional and alternative materials, but the ongoing input of water that is required for irrigation. Secondly, the evapotranspiration performance of VGS in Copenhagen, Berlin, Lisbon, Rome, Istanbul, and Tel Aviv, cities with different climatic, architectural, and sociocultural contexts have been simulated using a verticalized ET0 approach, assessing rainwater runoff and greywater as irrigation resources. The water cycling performance of VGS in the mentioned cities would be sufficient at recycling 44% (Lisbon) to 100% (Berlin, Istanbul) of all accruing rainwater roof–runoff, if water shortages in dry months are bridged by greywater. Then, 27–53% of the greywater accruing in a building could be managed on its greened surface. In conclusion, we address the gaps in the current knowledge and policies identified in the different stages of analyses, such as the lack of comprehensive life cycle assessment studies that quantify the complete “water footprint” of building greening systems.

The 21st century challenges, in particular those of climate change, population growth, air pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic global health crisis, demand greater emphasis on infrastructure facilities capable of keeping pace with population needs in well-being, health and economic prosperity. Green infrastructure aimed to intensify ecological processes in built-up areas and deliver vital ecosystem services is of a key significance for Russia, one of the most urbanized countries in the world. The article is dedicated to the issue of providing cities sustainability through creating a basic element of the urban green infrastructure—a public green network—by incorporating and linking a variety of already existing urban environmental components, both spatial and linear, such as natural areas, squares, parks, streets, boulevards, embankments and others. The territory of the case study is Krasnodar region located in the southwestern part of the North Caucasus, the warmest region of Russia characterized by highly varied urban areas. The authors propose the multiple criteria method for evaluating the existing GreenPS and creating a GreenPS framework for six cities located in Krasnodar region both on the southern seaward part and on the northern steppe part. This approach is focused on the sustainable development of the cities, adaptation to climate change and the prevention of local risks with respect to the preservation of ecosystem functions and cultural heritage. The methodology includes three stages: investigating and evaluating the present state of the existing urban GreenPS; defining sustainability potential; and the submission of master plan proposals for the improvement and further development and management of the GreenPS network implementing nature-based solutions. In addition, it follows seven main integral criteria, namely, Accessibility, Density, Sufficiency, Continuity, Diversity, Value and Clean and Sanitary, illustrated by ray diagrams. The results of the study show good potential for construction in Krasnodar region cities of an efficient GreenPS network integrating ecological and social city components. The flexibility of the method proposed makes it replicable for any other city aimed at creating a GreenPS network in sustainable, climate-change-adapted cities.

Schoolyards in North America and Europe are increasingly using green fences as one measure to protect vulnerable populations from localised air pollution. This paper assesses the possibilities and limits for mobilising this format of site-specific green infrastructure in cities in low- and middle-income countries beset by air pollution and multiple other socio-environmental challenges, and particularly questions the definition of green fences as a green infrastructure for air quality (GI4AQ). We applied several qualitative and action research methods to the question of green fence implementation in Buenos Aires, Argentina—a Latin American city with weak air-quality policies, limited green infrastructure, and little experience with nature-based solutions. Firstly, we conducted a literature review of the role that urban vegetation and ecosystem services may play in AQ policy and the implementation barriers to such approaches globally and in the city. Secondly, we planned, designed, constructed, maintained, and evaluated a pilot green fence in a school playground. Thirdly, we carried out supplementary interviews with stakeholders and expert informants and compiled project members’ narratives to respectively characterise the barriers that the project encountered and delineate its attributes based on the associated actions that we took to overcome such barriers to implementation and complete the pilot. Our findings identify multiple barriers across seven known categories (institutional, engagement, political, socio-cultural, built environment and natural landscape, knowledge base and financial) and highlight examples not previously considered in the extant international literature. Furthermore, learning from this experience, the paper proposes an expanded model of green infrastructure for air quality plus multi-dimensional co-benefits (GI4AQ+) to increase implementation chances by attending to local needs and priorities.

Rapid urbanization rates impact significantly on the nature of Land Cover patterns of the environment, which has been evident in the depletion of vegetal reserves and in general modifying the human climatic systems (Henderson, et al., 2017; Kumar, Masago, Mishra, & Fukushi, 2018; Luo and Lau, 2017). This study explores remote sensing classification technique and other auxiliary data to determine LULCC for a period of 50 years (1967-2016). The LULCC types identified were quantitatively evaluated using the change detection approach from results of maximum likelihood classification algorithm in GIS. Accuracy assessment results were evaluated and found to be between 56 to 98 percent of the LULC classification. The change detection analysis revealed change in the LULC types in Minna from 1976 to 2016. Built-up area increases from 74.82ha in 1976 to 116.58ha in 2016. Farmlands increased from 2.23 ha to 46.45ha and bared surface increases from 120.00ha to 161.31ha between 1976 to 2016 resulting to decline in vegetation, water body, and wetlands. The Decade of rapid urbanization was found to coincide with the period of increased Public Private Partnership Agreement (PPPA). Increase in farmlands was due to the adoption of urban agriculture which has influence on food security and the environmental sustainability. The observed increase in built up areas, farmlands and bare surfaces has substantially led to reduction in vegetation and water bodies. The oscillatory nature of water bodies LULCC which was not particularly consistent with the rates of urbanization also suggests that beyond the urbanization process, other factors may influence the LULCC of water bodies in urban settlements. Keywords: Minna, Niger State, Remote Sensing, Land Surface Characteristics References Akinrinmade, A., Ibrahim, K., & Abdurrahman, A. (2012). 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Nature-based solutions (NBS) is a term often used to refer to adequate green infrastructure that provides multiple benefits to society whilst addressing societal challenges. They are defined as actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits. Malta, the smallest member state of the EU, has been characterised by rapid economic growth and urbanisation and Maltese citizens had the highest rate of exposure to pollution, grime or other environmental problems, in the EU. The project ReNature aims to establish and implement a nature-based solutions research strategy for Malta with a vision to promote research and innovation and develop sustainable solutions whilst improving human well-being and tackling environmental challenges. Here, we introduce the opening of ReNature collection of research articles in the Open Access Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO) journal to publish unconventional research outputs and training materials. It will host key outputs relating to the sustainable use of biodiversity, biodiversity – ecosystem functioning, green infrastructure and ecosystem service assessments across rural-urban gradients, equitable access to the benefits derived from nature in cities and socio-environmental justice, payments for ecosystem services, and designing nature-based solutions.

Abstract Background The concept of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) has evolved as an umbrella concept embracing concepts such as Green/Blue/Nature Infrastructure, Ecosystem Approach, Ecosystem Services, but at their core, they cluster into the general theme of learning from and using nature to create sustainable socio-ecological systems, which enhance human well-being (HWB). NBS address societal challenges across a broad range of spatial scales—local, regional and global—and temporal scales—medium to long-term. While there are many reviews and a clear evidence base linking certain NBS to various elements of HWB, particularly urban greenspace and human health, no comprehensive mapping exists of the links between NBS interventions and the associated multiple positive and negative HWB outcomes across a range of habitats. The initial research phase used a participatory co-design process to select four priority societal challenges facing the United Kingdom: three related to management issues i.e. NBS cost-efficacy, governance in planning, environmental justice, and the fourth threats to the acoustic environment. These challenges collectively address priority management issues which stakeholders requested be investigated widely i.e. across landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes and soundscapes. Results of the study are intended to identify and define potential future environmental evidence challenges for UK science. Methods This protocol describes the methodology for approaching the research question: What evidence is there for nature based solutions and their impacts on human wellbeing for societal challenges related to cost-efficacy, governance in planning, environmental justice, and the acoustic environment? Using systematic mapping, this study will search for and identify studies that seek to assess nature-based solutions on human well-being with regard to these four societal challenges. Systematic searches across a number of academic/online databases are tested against a number of test articles. Search results are refined using eligibility criteria through a three stage process: title, abstract, full text. Data from screened studies are extracted using a predefined coding strategy. Key trends in data will be synthesized according to a range of secondary questions and be presented in a graphical matrix illustrating the knowledge gaps and clusters for research into nature-based solutions and human well-being for each societal challenge.

Rapid urbanization in many parts of the world has increasingly put the environment under pressure, with natural landscapes cleared to make way for built infrastructure. Urban ecosystems, and the services that they provide, can offer nature-based solutions to the challenges of urbanization. There is increasing interest in better incorporating ecosystems into urban planning and design in order to deliver greater provision of ecosystem services and enhance urban liveability. However, there are few examples of built or proposed urban developments that have been designed specifically with ecosystem services in mind–partly because there are few modeling tools available to support urban planners and designers by informing their design workflows. Through using Singapore’s latest nature-centric town as a case study, this article assesses the impacts of nature-based solutions in urban design on ecosystem services performance, through a spatially explicit modeling approach. The proposed future scenario for the nature-centric town was projected to result in substantial declines in the provision of all ecosystem services, as a result of the removal of large areas of natural vegetation cover. However, the future scenario compared favourably against three older towns that have been constructed in Singapore, showing the best performance for four out of six ecosystem services. This simulation exercise indicates that designing towns with ecosystem services in mind, and incorporating nature-based solutions into urban design, can help to achieve enhanced performance in providing ecosystem services. The models developed for this study have been made publicly available for use in other tropical cities.

AbstractMaximizing the functional performance of urban green infrastructure is important to deliver critical ecosystem services that support human well-being. However, urban ecosystems are impacted by social and ecological filters that affect biodiversity, shaping how species’ traits are functionally expressed, thus affecting ecosystem services supply. Our Social–Ecological Traits Framework addresses the impacts of socio-ecological systems on the phenotypic expression of traits and ecosystem services delivery. This functional approach to examining the supply of ecosystem services can improve the incorporation of biodiversity knowledge in urban planning decisions for maximizing the effectiveness of ecosystem services as nature-based solutions under multiple types of social and environmental change.

In recent decades, informal settlement upgrading and housing deficit in Latin America has been addressed through a variety of urban programs, usually structured around physical-spatial and social actions with an emphasis on the provision of basic infrastructure and services, improved accessibility and connectivity and new housing, mostly done by conventional means. In general, they fail to incorporate new frameworks that provide solutions with strong environmental roots, such as Nature-based Solutions (NbS), Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) or Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA). This article explores the potentiality of NbS/BGI in contributing to solve structural problems in marginal urban areas, the mindshifts and actor coalitions needed to support this and how it may promote equity and justice. This is analyzed in a particular setting: Villa 20, an informal settlement in the City of Buenos Aires that is undergoing a participatory urban upgrading process with a strong participatory platform made up of multiple spaces and devices for consensual decision-making on re-urbanization aspects. In Villa 20, several interrelated projects and programs are focusing on sustainability. In particular, the Transformative Urban Coalitions (TUC) of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) is connecting decarbonization with urban inequalities and urban justice. The article reflects on some of the initial outcomes of the TUC program that builds upon the ongoing participatory upgrading process. To discuss the links between the use of NbS, mindshifts and transformative urban coalitions we look into the social setting, methods and tools that promote mindset shift. We explore initial mindset changes in government teams; community leaders; and participants of an Urban Lab and the building up of a new transformative actor coalition. With this, we aim to better understand the possibilities and potential implications of implementing NbS in marginalized social contexts, contributing both to closing the knowledge gap and re-thinking future policies and programs.

Ecological restoration in the Los Angeles (LA) River watershed is proceeding on multiple fronts with the support and engagement of diverse stakeholder groups. Pilot projects to restore habitat, reintroduce native species, and design science-based ecosystem enhancements have produced real benefits to nature and people and demonstrated the potential for additional benefits. The pilot projects, which are in various stages of collaborative planning and implementation, have generated increased interest and financial support to further their implementation and maximize socioecological co-benefits. This self-reinforcing positive feedback is an example of a virtuous cycle established through a combination of long-term environmental planning, community-building, and watershed-scale scientific study to gain the support of stakeholders and align ecological intervention (i.e., restoration) with the plans and policies of governments, resource managers, conservation groups, and grassroots advocacy groups. Conservation and restoration projects targeting iconic and protected focal species can be an effective means of leveraging these interests and building support. For example, the LA River Fish Passage and Habitat Structures project addresses a critical limiting factor for the recovery of endangered steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) while also enhancing urban biodiversity and providing recreational opportunities and other beneficial uses (e.g., ecosystem services) for the surrounding communities. Through these efforts, our planners, ecologists, and engineers are using place-based conservation to demonstrate solutions to problems that affect people and nature in other urban landscapes. Here, we show how this work can provide socioecological benefits in disadvantaged communities and also generate public awareness and motivation to perpetuate the cycle of positive feedback.

AbstractAcross all landscape types, environmental managers work with communities to conserve biodiversity. The effectiveness of conservation practice, however, relies on acknowledging differences in preferences and values of nature. Implementing urban conservation is challenging because cities have diverse social, cultural and ecological attributes, meaning there are no simple solutions for the management or co-management of biodiversity. There is little guidance for urban environmental managers on how to 1) engage local urban communities and 2), implement conservation actions specific to cities and their communities. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 environmental managers from government and not-for-profit organizations across five Australian capital cities to 1) explore how environmental managers engaged local communities, and 2) understand the factors that enabled or constrained that engagement in conservation. Our aim was to understand the enablers and constraints of engagement with a view to share insights and patterns in the context of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conceptual framework’s recognition of the diversity of values associated with nature’s contributions to people (NCP). We found that urban environmental managers facilitated NCP by working to improve people’s relationship with nature. Interviewees reported a range of enablers for community-based biodiversity conservation, including supportive organizational policies and strategies, community support, engaging Indigenous advisory groups, and deploying multi-use, integrative human-nature designs. Constraints and challenges included a lack of top-down commitment, reliance on individuals, and overly simplistic engagement strategies. Based on these findings, we identified opportunities for improved community engagement relevant to organizations responsible for urban environmental management.