Measuring and quantifying the benefits of nature-based solutions in cities
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Keywords
Case study of urban park in Amsterdam
A comprehensive review of the many existing (and still under development) assessment frameworks and indicators for quantifying the multitude of benefits arising from nature-based solutions (NbS) in urban contexts. This includes an evaluation and cross-comparison of tools using multi-criteria analysis as well as the application of the highest-scoring tool on an urban NbS case study in the Netherlands. The focus of the study is primarily on water-related ecosystem services however additional biophysical benefits are also considered.
There are a growing number of tools that attempt to measure, quantify and valorise the well-being and that human societies receive from healthy and functioning ecosystems. However there has been limited adoption of these tools by decision makers and policy-makers, especially in urban settings, which can result in an underestimation of the ecosystem services and societal benefits that are being provided by nature-based solutions (NbS) in cities. In order to facilitate the use of empirical data for greater NbS implementation in urban contexts, it is important to understand the properties of each tool, their suitability for diverse urban environments, and the relationship between indicators that measure NbS ecosystem services with indicators that are intended to assess ecosystem properties (i.e. health, integrity, resilience).
This study first provides a thorough overview and comparison of the wide variety of available assessment tools in terms of their ability to measure ecosystem services delivered by urban NbS. Using criteria from the literature and practical perspectives, a multi-criteria analysis is used to identify suitable assessment tools that can capture NbS ecosystem services across different urban landscape domains and societal challenges. In the second part of this study, the effectiveness of a chosen assessment tool, i-Tree, is tested through its application to an urban park case study in Amsterdam. The aim of the study is to quantify and measure as many ecosystem services as possible from the urban park, which can then be presented as societal benefits within a business case proposal that uses non-technical language but is grounded in scientific evidence. Both the approach and applied tool of this study can be modified and replicated by a wide range of stakeholders to estimate and/or measure the benefits of integrating bluegreen solutions into urban spatial planning. These benefits include, but are not limited to, more resilient and adaptable infrastructure, reductions in flood risk, more efficient and multi-functional land use, and improved environmental quality. In particular, the i-Tree tool is well-positioned for use in citizen science projects.
Source: Alvarado, O. A. 2021. Measuring and quantifying the benefits of nature-based solutions in cities: case study of urban park in Amsterdam. Wetlands for wastewater treatment and Nature-Based solutions. AIWW 2021.
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Icon image: park