Fors, Hanna
- Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2023Peer reviewedOpen access
Transformative or piecemeal? Changes in green space planning and governance in eleven European cities
Hansen, Rieke; Buizer, Marleen; Buijs, Arjen; Pauleit, Stephan; Mattijssen, Thomas; Fors, Hanna; van der Jagt, Alexander; Kabisch, Nadja; Cook, Mandy; Delshammar, Tim; Randrup, Thomas B.; Erlwein, Sabrina; Vierikko, Kati; Nieminen, Hanna; Langemeyer, Johannes; Texereau, Camille Soson; Luz, Ana Catarina; Nastran, Mojca; Olafsson, Anton Stahl; Moller, Maja Steen; Haase, Dagmar; Rolf, Werner; Ambrose-Oji, Bianca; Branquinho, Cristina; Havik, Gilles; Kronenberg, Jakub; Konijnendijk, Cecil
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Abstract
Green (and blue) spaces receive attention as important components of cities that can help to mitigate the effects of climate change, support biodiversity and improve public health. Green space planning aims to transform cities towards urban sustainability and resilience. In a longitudinal study, representatives from eleven European municipalities that had previously been interviewed in 2014 were re-interviewed in 2020-2021 on changes in urban greening and related practices. The interviewees reported mainly advancements in dealing with ecological issues, such as new plans, strategies, regulations or funding programmes for climate adaptation or biodiversity support, as well as some progress in co-governance with non-governmental stakeholders. Promising developments include breaking professional silos by creating new units that can better deal with complex urban issues. In a few cases, high-level local politicians induced profound changes. These changes stimulated the development of new planning and governance cultures, resulting in more co-creation of urban green spaces. However, from a transformation studies perspective, incremental strategies dominate, and even when municipal representatives are aware that substantive changes are needed, they often lack the means to act. For more radical system change, significant extra efforts are needed.
Keywords
Co-governance; participation; climate change; sustainability transformations; green infrastructure
Published in
European Planning Studies
2023, volume: 31, number: 12, pages: 2401-2424
Publisher: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR AND FRANCIS LTD
SLU Authors
Randrup, Thomas
- Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Associated SLU-program
Nature experiences and health
Global goals (SDG)
SDG11 Sustainable cities and communities
SDG13 Climate action
SDG16 Peace, justice and strong institutions
UKÄ Subject classification
Landscape Architecture
Human Geography
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2022.2139594
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/120165