TY - JOUR

T1 - The uptake of the ecosystem services concept in planning discourses of European and American cities

AU - Hansen, Rieke

AU - Frantzeskaki, Niki

AU - McPhearson, Timon

AU - Rall, Emily

AU - Kabisch, Nadja

AU - Kaczorowska, Anna

AU - Kain, Jaan Henrik

AU - Artmann, Martina

AU - Pauleit, Stephan

N1 - Funding information: This paper was funded by the EU FP7-ERA-NET project URBES (Urban Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, 2012–2014), which aims to fill scientific gaps on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem services for human well-being and to strengthen the capacity of European cities to adapt to climate change and other future challenges. A research stay in Seattle was supported by the Technische Universität München Graduate School, resp. Graduiertenzentrum Weihenstephan. We thank Nancy Rottle for valuable insights into the planning system of Seattle and Daniel Wurster for contributing to the Salzburg case study.

PY - 2015/4/1

Y1 - 2015/4/1

N2 - Ecosystem services (ES) are gaining increasing attention as a promising concept to more actively consider and plan for the varied benefits of the urban environment. Yet, to have an impact on decision-making, the concept must spread from academia to practice. To understand how ES have been taken up in planning discourses we conducted a cross-case comparison of planning documents in Berlin, New York, Salzburg, Seattle and Stockholm. We found: (1) explicit references to the ES concept were primarily in documents from Stockholm and New York, two cities in countries that entered into ES discourses early. (2) Implicit references and thus potential linkages between the ES concept and planning discourses were found frequently among all cities, especially in Seattle. (3) The thematic scope, represented by 21 different ES, is comparably broad among the cases, while cultural services and habitat provision are most frequently emphasized. (4) High-level policies were shown to promote the adoption of the ES concept in planning. We find that the ES concept holds potential to strengthen a holistic consideration of urban nature and its benefits in planning. We also revealed potential for further development of ES approaches with regard to mitigation of environmental impacts and improving urban resilience.

AB - Ecosystem services (ES) are gaining increasing attention as a promising concept to more actively consider and plan for the varied benefits of the urban environment. Yet, to have an impact on decision-making, the concept must spread from academia to practice. To understand how ES have been taken up in planning discourses we conducted a cross-case comparison of planning documents in Berlin, New York, Salzburg, Seattle and Stockholm. We found: (1) explicit references to the ES concept were primarily in documents from Stockholm and New York, two cities in countries that entered into ES discourses early. (2) Implicit references and thus potential linkages between the ES concept and planning discourses were found frequently among all cities, especially in Seattle. (3) The thematic scope, represented by 21 different ES, is comparably broad among the cases, while cultural services and habitat provision are most frequently emphasized. (4) High-level policies were shown to promote the adoption of the ES concept in planning. We find that the ES concept holds potential to strengthen a holistic consideration of urban nature and its benefits in planning. We also revealed potential for further development of ES approaches with regard to mitigation of environmental impacts and improving urban resilience.

KW - Discourses

KW - Ecosystem services

KW - Human-nature relations

KW - Policy-making

KW - Resilience

KW - Urban planning

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84928159635&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.11.013

DO - 10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.11.013

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84928159635

VL - 12

SP - 228

EP - 246

JO - Ecosystem Services

JF - Ecosystem Services

SN - 2212-0416

ER -