Search results

The “renaturing” of cities through an increased emphasis on the use of nature-based solutions (NBS) potentially offers urban areas the opportunity to deliver multiple environmental and socioeconomic benefits. In particular, approaches linked to NBS can limit the degree of climate exposure and vulnerability impacting upon urban infrastructures. The success of NBS in addressing climate change pressures will require an improved understanding of the characteristics of environmental risk and the ability to evaluate alternate adaptive pathways. In response, this chapter explores those components which are central to effective urban infrastructure assessment and considers how they may assist in the formulation of infrastructure strategies.

We stress the need for an approach which is both scenario-focused and fully integrated within existing spatial planning frameworks. Here, we draw specific attention to the utility of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in both embedding environmental evaluation within mainstream spatial planning and providing the basis for the comparative evaluation of alternatives. We also argue for an approach which recognizes areas of complementary interaction between “gray infrastructure” (whether existing or proposed) and approaches linked to NBS. In order to highlight examples of potential development responses, we draw on best-practice case study examples from the European Union (EU)–funded GROWGREEN project.

How are our cities confronting the challenges posed by a warming climate, the loss of biodiversity, and the increasing urban heat island effect? ― This chapter discusses the opportunities and benefits of applying the concepts of renaturalization and rewilding of cities. It introduces nature-based solutions (NBS) in urban planning that are integrated with the aim to enhance urban resilience and to slow down the biodiversity decline, which can be applied in two areas: through the conception of new green neighborhoods and through the regeneration and regreening of existing but neglected parts of the city, such as postindustrial brownfields or economically weak districts.

Contact to nature is essential for human existence, urban well-being, and a good quality of life. Green spaces in cities – big or small – all contribute to health and well-being. However, many cities do not offer residents easy access to green space within the city. Improving better access and extending gardens and parks will deliver a large number of benefits, such as ecosystem services, better water management for enhanced urban flood control, and slowing down the biodiversity loss, with the potential to restore damaged ecosystems. Furthermore, additional green space and NBS help to keep cities cool during heat waves and improve the urban microclimate.

In this context, NBS and regreening can generate significant benefits for citizens, improve urban health and well-being, and offer an opportunity to effectively deploy nature to resolve major societal challenges ― such as social inclusion, food security, and disaster risk reduction. However, it is essential that the design of NBS is fully integrated with other complementary planning interventions and seeks synergies across all sectors.

The assessment of ecosystem services (ES) in urban areas can be an important policy instrument for both strategic directives at national and regional levels and concrete actions at municipality level. A unifying underpinning framework that combines different administrative levels through a common, consistent basis would greatly facilitate the mainstreaming of such an instrument. Three key concepts underpin this framework: urban ecosystems, nature-based solutions (NBS), and ES. First, NBS are acknowledged as the ecological assets that in the urban context can provide ES, meant as complex processes made possible through the existence of natural and seminatural systems at various scales. Second, the classification of urban ecosystems needs to be consistent with the treatment of urban areas in ecosystem accounting and with NBS levels of intervention and primary objectives. Third, by serving societal challenges, it is important to clearly frame the strategic drivers of change: whether it concerns management practices of current land use or radical conversions in land use. Finally, once such a framework will be in place, it can facilitate sustainability assessment in urban ecosystems by quantifying the presence of NBS, whose creation/maintenance assure the delivery of ES. The purpose of this chapter is to theoretically frame an ES-based approach, but this is only a first step. Many more steps are required on to concretely put this framework in practice at different administrative levels, such as strategic planning and policy setting (at national level), and urban, peri-urban, and coastal development (at municipal level).

The Ruhr region is a long-term showcase for the implementation of nature-based solutions (NBS) as part of regional and local development policies. With the implementation of the Emscher Landscape Park and the ecological renewal of the Emscher River System, a fundament for new and integrated strategies and projects was created. The Ruhr Region was inspired by the models, strategies, and discussions of the EU to test and implement ES, NBS, and GI in the last 10 years. The planners were also following the two competing national discussions in Germany to interpret GI more in the context of sustainable urban development or more as nature protection and biodiversity. In 2016, the Ruhr Region published a first own GI strategy named Green Infrastructure Ruhr, which was designed as an integrated and multi-level strategy with five operative fields of action for the whole region: (1) Urban Landscape, (2) Water in the City, (3) Green Urbanism, (4) Climate-friendly Mobility, and (5) Climate Protection and supporting Energy Efficiency. The conceptional and political discussions about this approach in the region are still going on. The author recommends changing the perception of NBS from green conceptual and academic perspective to operative policy and management. NBS can be developed as real urban infrastructures. Our societies are well trained to run, to finance, and to maintain various infrastructure systems. It is time to take operative responsibility for NBS in our cities and regions.

Although people have always been aware of the role and importance of green space, trees, and other nature in cities, wider recognition and policy support is of a much more recent date, for example in the context of current climate and public health challenges. The nature-based solutions concept has emerged as a strong, recent attempt for “mainstreaming” of nature in political, planning, and economic areas. Starting from a description of the role of nature in cities, this chapter introduces the nature-based solutions concept and its current spread and implementation in an urban context. It also raises some questions about the next steps in implementing the concept, perhaps moving away from too much focus on a utilitarian view of nature and ecosystem and toward considering nature as a framework for all planning and decision-making.

Chapter 17 discusses challenges for financing nature-based solutions (NBS). Financing NBS is a key challenge to ensure scaling of the use of NBS in urban areas. This is mainly due to the difficulty to monetize the value generated through the provisioning of ecosystem services, as well as the multiple cobenefits that NBS provide. Certain types of NBS, such as green roofs, have been able to allow for private value capture, enabling such projects to attract private or blended capital. Others, where benefits are generally regarded as public good, have to rely on different financing strategies and instruments. The section provides an overview of financing solutions (public, private, and blended instruments) for different types of NBS and their applicability to NBS in the urban context.

While concentration of population in urban areas continues, limited contact with ecological dynamics undermines awareness on human dependence on ecosystems. However, demands on ecosystems have never been higher than in today's urbanized planet, and cities make major contributions to global environmental problems. Enhancing green and blue infrastructure (GBI) in cities can reduce the ecological footprints of cities, while enhancing urban resilience and quality of life for their inhabitants. Urban GBIs provide multiple benefits to people in the form of ecosystem services (ES) and hold potential for providing nature-based solutions (NBS) to address urban challenges.

To adequately evaluate the ES provided by GBI, researchers have recently advocated integrated valuations. Integrated valuations aim at overcoming the limitations of the traditional single discipline and narrow approaches, by considering the multiple ways in which humans benefit from nature across the economic social and cultural domains.

In this chapter, we present examples of integrated valuations of ES in two Spanish cities, Barcelona and Bilbao. Both examples combine different valuation techniques and metrics, both monetary and nonmonetary, to account for the ES provided by urban GBIs and to assess their potential as NBS.

Our case examples show that urban GBIs provide many valuable benefits to urban dwellers. One of the clearest outcomes from these infrastructures is cultural ES, especially the multiple recreation and leisure opportunities they provide, which in turn has a remarkable positive effect on human health and well-being.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly seen as a holistic approach to a wide array of environmental and societal problems. Crucially, much of its appeal stems from its potential to address multiple challenges at once, being not only valuable for their positive impacts toward sustainability and human welfare but also their cost-effectiveness when compared to some engineered solutions. This helps to explain the growing awareness of the private sector of the market opportunities arising from the introduction of NBS to their operations. This chapter presents some of the opportunities for businesses in implementing NBS, such as the risk and cost reductions, compliance with regulatory requirements, reputational and financial gains, among others. I will also introduce some of the challenges they might face, such as the difficulties for companies to fully internalizing all benefits generated by investing in NBS, the need for long-term planning in adapting NBS in a company's operations, possible hindrances in financing innovative NBS, among others. The chapter will also showcase NBS being implemented by companies in urban contexts, based on the responses of local governments that disclose to CDP's cities questionnaire. This concluding section of the chapter provides policy recommendations for public entities to incentivize the uptake of NBS by the private sector.