Session 5B - Economy for Equitable Cities

The ongoing pandemic crisis has exacerbated the existing socio-economic and environmental inequalities within cities (Grima et al., 2020), including in terms of green space accessibility and ecosystem service provision. Among others, the presence of high-quality green spaces and elements and the enhancement of Ecosystem Services (ES) supplied by Nature-based Solutions (NbS) have become a more pressing need. The provision of ES highly depends on the condition of ecosystems. Natural ones are usually regarded as the main providers of ES, but urban areas can also be seen as ecosystems with their own structure and functions which provide a certain range of ES (Haase et al., 2014). The knowledge of urban ecosystem conditions can therefore support different types of policy questions within processes for sustainable urban planning in an equitable perspective.

Several general frameworks for the assessment and accounting of ecosystems and their services are currently being developed internationally, including the Essential Biodiversity Variables, and the UN’s SEEA EEA Ecosystem Condition Typology (ECT). The latter aims at regular and standardized stocktaking on the extent of ecosystems, their condition and the services they provide to society (Maes et al., 2013; Czúcz et al., 2021). However, so far there have been only few attempts to apply it to urban contexts, and its usability to support decision-making processes is still uncertain.

Our research aims to advance the application of ecosystem accounting in urban contexts by proposing a set of condition indicators for urban ecosystems' classes. We reviewed scientific and grey literature describing indicators of ecosystem conditions for both urban ecosystems and other ecosystem types that can be found in urban areas (e.g. agriculture and forest patches, rivers). The indicators were categorized according to the DPSIR framework. For each indicator, we noted the ES to which it was linked in the publication. Proposed ECT are grouped into eight classes: 1. Demographic and socio-economic factors; 2. Habitat alteration and fragmentation; 3. Ecological-environmental condition; 4. Structural and functional attributes; 5. Land cover; 6. Land use and management; 7. Conservation and protection status; 8. Biodiversity. 

The classified indicators for urban ecosystems can support local governments operating in urban contexts. Their use could guide the geographical arrangement of NbS with the potential to inform decision-makers determining policy priorities or proposing green intervention, and their design, that respond to specific types of inequality. We conclude by discussing suitable scales of analysis and possible uses of condition indicators in the framework of urban ecosystem accounting exercises.

References

1. Grima N., Corcoran W., Hill-James C., Langton B., Sommer H., & Fisher B. (2020). The importance of urban natural areas and urban ecosystem services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Plos one, 15(12): e0243344. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243344.
2. Haase D., Frantzeskaki N., Elmqvist T. (2014). Ecosystem services in urban landscapes: practical applications and governance implications. Ambio, 43 (4): 407-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-014-0503-1.
3. Maes J., Teller A., Erhard M., Liquete C., Braat L., Berry P., ... & Bidoglio G. (2013). Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services. An analytical framework for ecosystem assessments under action, 5: 1-58. doi: 10.2788/341839. 
4. Czúcz B., Keith H., Jackson B., Nicholson E., & Maes J. (2021). A common typology for ecosystem characteristics and ecosystem condition variables. One Ecosystem, 6: e58218. doi: 10.3897/oneeco.6.e58218.  

Governments increasingly recognize the viability of Nature-based solutions (NBS) to deal with societal and environmental challenges. Noteworthy hurdles, including immature market development, have been well-documented to hinder realising their potential for value-creation, however. While innovation and the rise of Nature-based enterprises (NBE) have been observed to improving the situation (Kooijman et al, 2021), the realization of sustainable business models and impacts on socio-economically weak populations continue to raise issues (Peredo and Chrisman, 2006; Anyonge-Bashir and Udoto, 2012). The present study aims to investigate the marketability and financial viability of different kinds of NBEs, while taking account of community-based organization as well as social and participatory NBS. The methods involve field research in three city areas, in Sofia, Nantes and Porto, featuring in-depth interviews with Nature-based enterprises, innovation hubs and municipalities. Based on a comparative analysis, we draw conclusions on variation in the marketability and viability of NBEs along with their impacts on sustainability. Finally, policy implications and recommendations are presented, including lessons for dissemination and replicability. 

References

Anyonge-Bashir, M. & Udoto, P. (2012). Beyond philanthropy: community Nature-based Enterprises as a Basis for Wildlife Conservation. The George Wright Forum, 29(1), 67-73.

Kooijman, E. D., McQuaid, S., Rhodes, M. L., Collier, M. J., & Pilla, F. (2021). Innovating with nature: From nature-based solutions to nature-based enterprises. Sustainability, 13(3), 1263.

Peredo, A. M., & Chrisman, J. J. (2006). Toward a theory of community-based enterprise. Academy of management Review, 31(2), 309-28.

Cities around the world are acknowledging the importance of trees and pledging ambitious afforestation targets. By 2030, Prague has pledged to plant 1 million trees (Dimitrova, 2021), Milan is aiming at 3 million trees (Barry, 2018) and Sydney intends to add 5 million trees to the city’s existing urban forest. (Greening Our City | NSW Dept of Planning, Industry and Environment). 

However, we are struggling to maintain our existing tree stocks. In England, green space declined from 63% to 56% between 2001 and 2016 (Zylva et al., 2020); in Madrid Hurricane Filomena devastated a third of the city’s trees (Filomena Arrasa Un Tercio De Los áRboles De Madrid, 2021); and ash dieback in Glasgow is forecasted to affect 12,5% of the urban tree stock (Stewart, 2021). By 2030, 290,000 km2 of natural habitat are forecasted to be converted to urban land uses (McDonald et al., 2019).

This paper presents the case of TreesAI; a cloud-based platform, establishing nature as a critical part of urban infrastructure, alongside bridges, roads and rail, enabling investment, profitability and sustainability. The aim of TreesAI is to establish urban trees as investable assets, with multi-dimensional values. TreesAI aims to support city scale partnerships to support NbS scaling by bridging science, technology, and civic participation. 

This paper will be presented through the study of Glasgow’s urban afforestation challenges, plans and the potential solutions that could enable its sustainable and just delivery. It will look at current limitations of urban nature finance and maintenance practices, and how these can reinforce the decline of forest’s health. It will make the case that following good science and software engineering practices can enable a new kind of decision making process for city wide transition. State-of-the-art machine learning methods combined with citizens sensing are employed to detect trees from 2D or 3D image data. Scenario Analysis Framework is developed to geolocate, design and forecast nature-based solutions portfolios and their impacts, across time (50+ years). These tools and information can enable new partnerships from stakeholders at different levels of the governance spectrum, from local communities to nature stewards, funders and practitioners. This paper looks at how the open-source nature of the impact models combined with a thorough stakeholder engagement portfolio design process, is fundamental to gain the respective trust of a variety of actors while maintaining the portfolio mission intact and aligned. This is a key component of multi-stakeholders value distribution to help close the finance gaps to adapt to climate related financial risk.

We suggest that the development of an open-source cloud-based platform could support nature stewards to aggregate projects into landscape-scale portfolios, build the business case that the benefits of urban forests far exceed its costs, ultimately attracting private and institutional capital to fund the long term stewardship of Nature-based Solutions (NbS). The platform would help establish the replicability of such case studies across cities. TreesAI makes a compelling argument for maintaining a green infrastructure with carbon, water, health, energy, economic and social benefits serving as a basis for co-investments.

The 1970s oil boom in the Gulf countries triggered an exponential growth of their cities. The urban development of the capital city of Oman is no different. Muscat expands linearly towards the northwest with a major focus on road, electricity, and waste infrastructure and little focus on housing and amenities such as parks and outdoor spaces. With the rapid urbanization process, a vital part of the physical development is undertaken by the support of top-down laws and policies with the role of the public sector being at the core. (Role of ministry: allocation of plots and regional planning; the role of Muscat Municipality: Execution, design, implementation, and
Maintainance at different scales). Furthermore, Muscat lacks an official policy that calls for community/civic participation as there is no clear foundation that enables people to participate in the design of outdoor spaces. However, in the last decade, awareness has developed among the residents of the city in order to play their role in the process of development. This research aims to document the development of outdoor open spaces in Muscat. The vitality of these spaces corresponds to the opportunities it provides to the vulnerable groups of the community. These spaces are seen to develop in an untraditional process, independent of the local municipality. By taking several typologies of outdoor spaces as case studies with varying governance structures, the research objective is to outline the level of appropriation of spaces by analyzing physical characteristics that shape them; the types of corresponding users; their roles and responsibilities in co-creating these spaces; the private financial initiators of such projects and the uses that trigger activity within these spaces.
The case-study typologies vary spatially and socially from each other but are presentative of other neighborhoods in the city. Moving from a position of permanent to temporary appropriation these typologies are neighborhood parks, spaces within souqs, street fronts, beach fronts, empty parking lots, and undeveloped allocated land.
A qualitative research approach focusing on small public space users and their contribution to the transformation of the area was taken. Hence using interviews, and surveys, we understand the process of transformation from the user's perspective. Furthermore, through aerial maps, direct observations, photography, and spatial mapping we trace the development process of the physical space.
Our findings indicate that in order to fill in the gap in the provision of public spaces by the public sector, residents of various neighborhoods take it upon themselves to appropriate permanent and temporary interventions in public spaces. The typologies that this research has identified are neighborhood parks, spaces within souqs, street fronts, beach fronts, empty parking lots, and undeveloped allocated land. In neighborhoods with financial investors such as Bank Muscat, Bahwan, and Khimji, permanent infrastructures, the research identified the development of landscaped public playgrounds. Neighborhoods that have the presence of active neighborhood bodies/CBOs/NGOs give rise to the development of temporary spaces such as activities on street fronts. Furthermore, there are two main aspects that contribute to the triggers of appropriation of temporary spaces in other neighborhoods at the level of Wilayat. These aspects are the economic opportunities, the specific spatial quality of the location, empowerment, and initiatives by residents, and the presence of governing bodies. Finally, in low-income neighborhoods, appropriation of spaces is mainly attributed to simply the dire need to be present in outdoor open spaces.
The research highlights the need for the presence of active community-based organizations for lobbying for the need for outdoor public spaces. In addition, the research calls for attention to the development of policies and incentives by the public sector towards the participatory development of outdoor open spaces at neighborhood scales.