We have an exciting milestone to share with you at this time: Results from an ongoing research on urban residents’ trade-offs and preferences have been published in Landscape and Urban Planning under the title: “The right fit: Acceptance of nature-based solutions across European cities”. The publication contributes valuable knowledge for the scientific and professional community.
The studies on choice experiment were performed by BOKU – one of the UPSURGE Partner – within the WP4 of the project UPSURGE and included several tasks. The BOKU team developed a survey methodology in which choices of stakeholders (groups) and trade-off potentials could be determined. The survey was conducted in 6 countries and includes opinions of 5,990 urban residents who participated.
The study focuses on the planning phase of nature-based solutions in cities, in which trade-offs have to be made between different options, such as the design, effectiveness, financial contributions from residents or participatory options. Based on the survey and choice experiment, the aim is to assist public participation processes in various countries, help planning teams define priorities and design governance measures which ensure long-term dedication to development plans. The results reflect respective exposure to climate change across the continent; such as Greek respondents being more affected by high temperatures compared to those from the United Kingdom. However, the study also revealed different preferences in regard to a participatory planning process, willingness to pay and importance of biodiversity.
The implications of these findings are far-reaching. For professionals in urban planning and local government, our research offers new perspectives and practical applications that can enhance decision-making and strategy formulation for implementing NBS in neighbourhoods across Europe. For the academic community, our work provides a foundation for further exploration and study of trade-offs and willingness to pay among residents.
The full publication is now available, and we invite you to delve into the details of our study. We believe that our findings will spark new discussions about what we expect NBS to achieve, inspire future social science research, and ultimately contribute to the advancement of NBS in urban environments.
For more information and to read the complete publication, please visit: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204624001889
We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed working on it!
