Urban planning is assumed to play an important role in developing nature-based solutions (NBS). To explore how NBS is addressed in urban development, municipal planning practices are analyzed based on three case studies in the Stockholm region of Sweden. Through focus group discussions, interviews and document studies, the planning and implementation of NBS and their intended contribution to regional green infrastructure (GI) and social and ecological qualities are investigated. The results show that the planning and design of urban green spaces engages the local community. Moreover, different conceptual frameworks are used to strengthen an ecological perspective and nurture expected outcomes, in particular ecosystem services and GI. Through competence development and collaborative approaches, the co-creation of innovative solutions for public and private green spaces is promoted. However, institutional conditions, e.g., legal frameworks and landownership shape the planning process and can challenge the ability to enhance social and ecological qualities. An assessment of the planning processes indicates a strong focus on ecosystem services and local GI, while the potential to contribute to regional GI differs widely between cases. The study concludes that a knowledge-driven and integrative planning process can foster the potential of NBS for green and sustainable cities.
The quest for cogent responses to sustainability goals challenges local spatial planning practices across growing metropolitan regions to develop planning approaches that enable transformative capacity in increasingly complex settings. Based on a case study conducted in the Stockholm region, this paper explores the design and organization of local planning processes to provide a basis for a discussion of alternative approaches that may enhance sustainability in plan and project development. More specifically, it aims to analyze the conditions for embedding and consolidating sustainability issues in local planning processes. The results show that the municipalities need to create conditions for an effective interplay between the planning work carried out in individual projects and the organization of resources, knowledge, and skills on which the projects depend to handle sustainability issues. This study contributes to the understanding of the challenges associated with putting sustainability into practice at the local level by identifying and conceptualizing three important barriers. By acknowledging the temporal, locational, and procedural dimensions of knowledge in local planning processes, planning practices may become better at knowing when, and in what ways, different forms of knowledge can become created, introduced, and used in a synergistic manner to aid the realization of sustainability goals.
In urbanising regions, urban sprawl and infrastructure cause profound alterations of natural habitats. Initial decisions on urban expansion and major infrastructure investments are often made on a strategic level where the long-term development of a region is determined. For these types of decisions a strategic environmental assessment can be prepared. However, the lack of an adequate conceptual and methodological framework can pose a major problem for the prediction of impacts, not least concerning biodiversity. This paper will highlight the need for effective methods for biodiversity analysis at landscape and regional levels, with reference to the long-term urban development of the Stockholm and Mälaren regions. Problems of habitat loss, fragmentation and other impacts related to large-scale urbanisation and infrastructure developments will be addressed. GIS-based methods focusing on predictive ecological modelling will be discussed in a scenario context. The implementation of such methodologies in the strategic environmental assessment process would allow a better integration of biodiversity in planning and decision-making, further promoting a sustainable planning system.
Since the mid-1990s, the aim to incorporate SEA into Swedish strategic transportation planning has been repeatedly expressed in government documents and directives. To support a successful implementation, efforts have been made to develop tools and methods for the integration of SEA into strategic transportation planning. These efforts concern, for example, the application of SEA in corridor development and longterm transportation planning. The practical experiences of SEA in strategic transportation planning have been influenced by the ambiguity of the scope and structure of SEA. In this paper the process of implementing the SEA in Swedish transportation planning will be reviewed. The review relates to political ambitions and practice, and highlights the methodological development of SEA applications in the Swedish transport sector.
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