Nature-based solutions for urban landscapes under post-industrialization and globalization: Barcelona versus Shanghai

Abstract

Using Barcelona and Shanghai as case studies, we examined the nature-based solutions (NBS) in urban settings-specifically within cities experiencing post-industrialization and globalization. Our specific research questions are: (1) What are the spatiotemporal changes in urban built-up land and green space in Barcelona and Shanghai? (2) What are the relationships between economic development, exemplified by post-industrialization, globalization, and urban green space? Urban land use and green space change were evaluated using data derived from a variety of sources, including satellite images, landscape matrix indicators, and a land conversion matrix. The relationships between economic development, globalization, and environmental quality were analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling based on secondary statistical data. Both Barcelona and Shanghai have undergone rapid urbanization, with urban expansion in Barcelona beginning in the 1960s-1970s and in Shanghai in the last decade. While Barcelona's urban green space and green space per capita began declining between the 1950s and 1990s, they increased slightly over the past two decades. Shanghai, however, has consistently and significantly improved urban green space and green space per capita over the past six decades, especially since the economic reform in 1978. Economic development has a direct and significant influence on urban green space for both cities and post-industrialization had served as the main driving force for urban landscape change in Barcelona and Shanghai. Based on secondary statistical and qualitative data from on-site observations and interviews with local experts, we highlighted the institution's role in NBS planning. Furthermore, aspiration to become a global or globalizing city motivated both cities to use NBS planning as a place-making tool to attract global investment, which is reflected in various governing policies and regulations. The cities' effort to achieve a higher status in the global city hierarchy may have contributed to the increase in total green space and urban green per capita. In addition, various institutional shifts, such as land property rights in a market economy vs. a transitional economy, may also have contributed to the differences in efficiency when expanding urban green space in Barcelona and Shanghai.

Key Enablers of and Barriers to the Uptake and Implementation of Nature-Based Solutions in Urban Settings: A Review

“…This group of actors are identified as critical mainly due to their role in providing the required institutional context and providing land and financial support for development of NBS e.g., [26]. The benefits that this group receives from NBS include improving the image of the city and increasing municipal income e.g., [44]. This group of actors are active at the city scale and are characterized with longer-term perspectives in comparison to the micro-level actors.…”

Inclusive Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Regeneration in a Natural Disaster Vulnerability Context: A Case Study of Chongqing, China

“…Innovative NBS pilots have created urban farms and regenerated urban streams and green areas (working as blue and green networks) in the cities with high social benefits such as urban farms with ponds, rain-gardens, green-roofs based on cork material and vertical farming systems, and the use and connection of natural waterbodies as systems for water pollutants removal. Five types of NBS will be implemented: (i) create/reinforce social ties around NBS and neighborhood life through the participation in the NBS life-cycle, resulting in local associative networks organized in a permanent NBS committee; (ii) use of NBS to professionally train and capacitate local citizens, associations and SMEs for NBS replication and job opportunities; (iii) use of NBS to raise awareness on the urban environment dynamics through structured educational programs in partnership with local schools and associations; (iv) "Communiversity" creation; and (v) circular economy promotion among larger social classes [31].…”

“…NBS can be the catalyst of neighborhood life and foster the creation of new social ties. By supporting, reinforcing and upscaling this function, NBS can simultaneously contribute to a healthier urban environment and a stronger, more inclusive society [31]. The core of NBS is to regenerate both the natural and social environments of deprived neighborhoods [30].…”

Urbanization and sustainability under transitional economies: a synthesis for Asian Russia

“…Furthermore, the differences in land use and institutions governing urban land use may lead to a variety of trajectories of urbanization and sustainability among transitional economies (Shatkin 1998, Leaf 2002, Sýkora and Bouzarovski 2012, Tian et al 2013. Yet, few comprehensive efforts have been made to explore the processes and consequences of the transformations of transitional economies, including post-Soviet countries, to understand how economic transition may have affected urbanization and sustainability , Fan et al 2017a, Park et al 2017.…”