Nature-Based Solutions Forming Urban Intervention Approaches to Anthropogenic Climate Change: A Quantitative Literature Review

Abstract

Discussion around anthropogenic climate change has occurred for over 100 years. However, in recent decades, these discussions have intensified due to increased confidence in scientific research highlighting adverse effects, increased knowledge breadth in climate science, and heightened public and political awareness and engagement on the topic. Climate change is now acknowledged as one of the biggest challenges and threats to modern lifestyles. Nature-based solutions (NBS), as a mediator and mitigator to adverse climate change effects, is an emerging area of expanding research collateral and practitioner literacy. To highlight current NBS knowledge, existing knowledge gaps, and research trends, a Quantitative Systematic Literature Review (QSLR) was undertaken (n = 54). This QSLR reveals the short temporal span of articles relating to NBS as a response to climate change, with most articles being of a research style format. NBS research focus areas were found to be dominated by ecological and infrastructure approaches to climate change mitigation, and ecological and technical positions were found to be most topical across the current climate change literature. Multiple knowledge gaps were identified by the review, namely the lack of broader conceptual approaches and knowledge acquisition regarding climate change responses via NBS, as well as the psychological relationship humans share with NBS and climate change, adverse or otherwise. These knowledge gaps highlight where future research inquiry may be directed to increase the value and completion of this research area. It is hoped that this QSLR will assist in increasing the profile of NBS in the multidisciplinary and complex response to anthropogenic climate change, as well as contribute to the growth in investment and implementation of NBS assets for a rigid and resilient global future.

Pre-Existing Interventions as NBS Candidates to Address Societal Challenges

“…The assessment was conducted in relation to the seven societal challenges (SCh) listed by the IUCN [9], which are briefly described in Table 2, referring to their link to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The challenge-orientation criteria (Table 2, Column A) were based on an on-systematic review of both peer-reviewed research papers [4,7,8,11,12,16,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] and relevant reports published by the EC [1, 13,37], IUCN [2,11] and UNEP [38]. Each criterion was selected on the basis of the following principles: (1) relevance to the topic under study, which is how to meet a given societal challenge; (2) universal character, so that NBS featuring different levels of human intervention in the ecosystem of different spatial extents and located in various areas can be assessed; and (3) measurability, meaning the availability of data or ease of data collection.…”

“…(SCh1) via the implementation of NBS can both provide resilience to the impacts of climate change through the provision of ecosystem services (ES) and enhance social awareness and political actions to combat climate change[12,20,[26][27][28][29][30]. Especially effective are solutions that serve as natural carbon sinks, including forests, wetlands and oceans.…”

Nature-Based Solutions Modeling and Cost-Benefit Analysis to Face Climate Change Risks in an Urban Area: The Case of Turin (Italy)

“…It significantly modifies land use and land cover characteristics, impacting both terrain and atmospheric conditions [6,7], and often results in changes to the microclimatic dynamics within and around urban areas [5]. Among current and future challenges faced by cities, climate change-related ones play a major role [8]. These include flood hazards deriving from soil sealing, which alter the hydrological cycle of cities by increasing the impervious areas and, thereby, reducing the interception, storage and infiltration capacity of rainwater vis-à-vis mutable precipitation patterns associated with climate change, and in particular the occurrence of high-intensity short-duration rainfall events [9][10][11].…”

Spatial Planning Response to the Challenges of Climate Change Adaptation: An Analysis of Selected Instruments and Good Practices in Europe

“…The identified challenges (e.g., the need for resettlement) are applicable to some regions in the world [23]. In the context of European spatial planning systems, these challenges are not always relevant [24]. While not denying the need for broader spatial planning reforms and deeper adaptation to climate challenges, it is worth focusing on those issues that are currently being more widely addressed in national spatial policies [25].…”