A framework for assessing and implementing the co-benefits of nature-based solutions in urban areas

Raymond, Christopher M.; Frantzeskaki, Niki; Kabisch, Nadja; Berry, Pam; Breil, Margaretha; Niţă, Mihai Răzvan; Geneletti, Davide; Calfapietra, Carlo

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2017.07.008

Cited by 787 publications

(666 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…In addition, further benefits that NBS may have on, for example, biodiversity, human health and cultural values are potentially significant (Gomez‐Baggethun & Barton, ; Raymond et al, ), require additional assessment methodologies, and should also be considered in future developments of a more comprehensive analysis. Potential economic savings from each assessed solution depends on how its multifunctionality is defined and if cost savings related to all multifunctions are accounted for.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi‐functionality of nature‐based and other urban sustainability solutions: New York City study

et al. 2018

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In an increasingly urban world, developing sustainable cities is crucial for global sustainability. Urban nature‐based solutions (NBS), such as green infrastructure, are often promoted for their potential to provide several urban services. These include stormwater mitigation, improving energy efficiency of buildings, and carbon emissions mitigation, but few studies have compared the multifunctionality of NBS to conventional urban solutions providing similar services. Fewer yet have acknowledged the indirect resource (specifically climate, land, energy, water [CLEW] nexus) impacts that these solutions may have. This paper analyzes these aspects, employing a simple CLEW nexus accounting framework, and attempts a consistent comparison across different resource systems. The comparison includes direct and indirect impacts of a set of stylized—and diverse—solutions, each with different primary objectives: green roofs, representing a multifunctional urban NBS; permeable pavements targeting mitigation of stormwater flows; window retrofits targeting energy efficiency; and rooftop PV installations targeting CO2 emissions mitigation. The results highlight both the direct and total (CLEW nexus) impacts of green roofs on stormwater retention, energy use, and CO2 emissions. However, also for the studied conventional solutions with primarily a single direct function, CLEW nexus impacts spread across all measured dimensions (energy, water, and CO2) to varying degrees. Although the numerical results are indicative and uncertainty needs to be further assessed, we suggest that the development of this type of multifunctional, multisystem assessment can assist urban sustainability planning, with comprehensive and consistent comparison of diverse (NBS and conventional) solutions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi‐functionality of nature‐based and other urban sustainability solutions: New York City study

et al. 2018

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“…In the EU, cities are laboratories where an ES approach brings practitioners and local knowledge-holders together across sectors and policy domains (Raymond et al 2017). This shows that the ES approach is not failing to engage perspectives from social sciences and local practitioners and is delivering most of its success stories at local level.…”

Section: Ecosystem Services Are More Than a Stock-flow Framingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem services are inclusive and deliver multiple values. A comment on the concept of nature's contributions to people

Burkhard¹,

Geneletti²

2018

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A recent policy forum article in Science by Díaz et al. (2018) introduces nature's contributions to people (NCP) as an innovative approach to inform policy and decisionmaking. According to the authors, the NCP concept extends beyond the notion of ecosystem services by incorporating a more inclusive and interdisciplinary approach. Here this claim is challenged. Based on our experiences in Europe, we argue that the science, policy and practice of ecosystem services have progressed much beyond a mere economic and ecological rationale.

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“…Here, we considered a case in which all scenarios are expected to improve the existing conditions and to generate benefits that decision-makers aim to maximise. This situation is not an unusual one in the context of ecosystem-based actions and nature-based solutions, often characterised by synergies rather than trade-offs amongst ES and related multiple benefits for nature, society and the economy (Albert et al 2017, Demuzere et al 2014, Raymond et al 2017. In the analysed case, potential trade-offs could be related to competing uses of the existing brownfields (Kain et al 2016) or other non-ES criteria, for example, the costs of intervention (Koschke et al 2012), which were not considered in the study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presence of brownfields triggers environmental degradation, economic decline and social exclusion, thus representing a key challenge for urban planning (Nassauer and Raskin 2014). In recent years, the strategy of brownfield regeneration as a way to limit land take and sprawl (Baing 2010) has been progressively linked to the adoption of nature-based solutions (European Commission 2015, Raymond et al 2017), thus making the enhancement of ES one of the main objectives of regeneration interventions. The paper describes the case study of Trento, a medium-sized city in northern Italy characterised by the presence of brownfields in the most-densely populated part of the city.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping and assessing ecosystem services to support urban planning: A case study on brownfield regeneration in Trento, Italy

Cortinovis¹,

Geneletti²

2018

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This study explores the use of ecosystem service (ES) knowledge to support urban planning in the assessment of future scenarios. The case study concerns the prioritszation of brownfield regeneration interventions in the city of Trento (Italy). Alternative planning scenarios considering the conversion of existing brownfields into new urban parks are assessed and compared. The assessment focuses on two ES of critical importance for the city, namely microclimate regulation and nature-based recreation. The benefits of the different scenarios are quantified based on the number of expected beneficiaries broken down into different vulnerability classes and then compared through a multi-criteria analysis. Three combinations of criteria and weights reflect different planning objectives and related decision-makers' orientations about what ES and beneficiary groups should be prioritised. The application demonstrates the potential for ES assessments to support urban planning processes in the specific phase of assessment and selection of alternatives, by meeting the requirements in terms of both sensitivity to small-scale changes in land uses or management activities and capacity to capture simultaneous variations in supply and demand of multiple ES. convey information about ES in planning decisions. Multi-criteria analysis is an effective way to integrate multiple ES assessments with other information about costs and benefits of planning scenarios, exploring diverse stakeholder perspectives and balancing competing objectives in a rational and transparent way.

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A framework for assessing and implementing the co-benefits of nature-based solutions in urban areas

Cited by 787 publications

References 64 publications

Multi‐functionality of nature‐based and other urban sustainability solutions: New York City study

Multi‐functionality of nature‐based and other urban sustainability solutions: New York City study

Ecosystem services are inclusive and deliver multiple values. A comment on the concept of nature's contributions to people

Mapping and assessing ecosystem services to support urban planning: A case study on brownfield regeneration in Trento, Italy

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