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THE ROLE OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN AND URBAN NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS IN ADDRESSING GLOBAL CHALLENGES.
Abstract
Urban green infrastructure has historically been used for aesthetical purposes, making landscapes visually pleasant. More recently the green infrastructure in urban and sub- urban areas has started to be applied to help solve a broad range of problems that city dwellers are facing. These problems include natural disasters, overheating, excessive flows rainwater, biodiversity decline and food insecurity among others. Thus, implementation of green infrastructure as Nature-based Solutions has become increasingly popular. This trend is likely to continue in future as global climate change poses more and more changes to city dwellers. Urbanization and population growth are likely to drive implementation of urban green infrastructure across the globe and especially in the Global South, where impacts of the global heating are likely to be particularly strong. Implementation of green infrastructure may be developed either mostly for aesthetical purposes or as Nature-based Solutions or both. It is, however, important to note that the integrated approach is likely to have the greatest potential to meet global challenges. Furthermore, implementation of the green infrastructure is likely to have the greatest positive impact when implemented as a holistic system rather than individual elements. Thus, there is a clear need to evaluate opportunities for green infrastructure development that could simultaneously maximize aesthetic impact and effectiveness of the urban green and blue spaces to act as Nature-based Solutions. Here we illustrate some of the variables and system dynamics involved. Using a simplified model with specific focus on food supply, system structural analysis suggests that the urbanization variables commonly considered in urban design models are not closely connected with those that would provide long-term sustainability. The positive feedback between variables within each of these two groups and negative impacts between groups create barriers to their combined assessment for practical mitigation actions. The various sub-systems and an expanded variable set can ideally be addressed with a similar methodology. We also discuss opportunities for integration and provide recommendations for policy makers, city planners and other stakeholders involved in construction and management of urban landscapes
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