Abstract
Spatial planning of Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) should ideally be based on well-evaluated and context specific solutions. One important obstacle to reach this goal relates to adequate provisioning of data to ensure good governance of BGI, i.e., appropriate planning, design, construction, and maintenance. This study explores the gap between data availability and implementation of BGI in urban planning authorities in Sweden. A multi method approach including brainstorming, semi-structured interviews with urban planners and experts on BGI and Geographical Information System (GIS), and validating workshops were performed to develop a framework for structured and user-friendly data collection and use. Identified challenges concern data availability, data management, and GIS knowledge. There is a need to improve the organisation of data management and the skills of trans-disciplinary cooperation to better understand and interpret different types of data. Moreover, different strategic goals require different data to ensure efficient planning of BGI. This calls for closer interactions between development of strategic political goals and data collection. The data management framework consists of three parts: A) Ideal structure of data management in relation to planning process, data infrastructure and organisational structure, and B) A generic list of data needed, and C) The development of structures for data gathering and access. We conclude that it is essential to develop pan-municipal data management systems that bridge sectors and disciplines to ensure efficient management of the urban environment, and which is able to support the involvement of citizens to collect and access relevant data. The framework can assist in such development.
Highlights
Urbanisation is accelerating at the global scale (CBD, 2012)
Through the three empirical steps presented above, we identified issues relevant for strategic use of data to aid the development of Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI)
We developed the following framework to support data use in planning, implementation, and maintenance of BGI, which consists of three parts: A) Ideal structure of data management in relation to the planning pro cess, data infrastructure and organisational structure, and B) A generic list of data needed, and C) The development of structures for data gathering and access
Summary
Urbanisation is accelerating at the global scale (CBD, 2012). While urban expansion onto surrounding land is one trajectory, especially common in the global south (Bren d’Amour et al, 2017), urban densi fication is a strategy aiming to reduce urban sprawl and increase pop ulation density for efficient public transport and energy use (Grimm et al, 2008; Hassan and Lee, 2015). Climate change will exacerbate several of the negative consequences of urbanisation, such as elevated temperatures under heat spells and increased risk of flooding from strong rainfall events (Grimm et al, 2008; Semadeni-Davies et al., 2008) Both under urban expansion and densification, there is a strong need for solid strategies to preserve, build, develop and increase the quantity (area) and quality of urban green and blue spaces (vegetation and surface water) to deliver multiple benefits (ecosystem services, ES) to urbanites, i.e. be multifunctional (Pauleit et al, 2011; Hansen and Pauleit, 2014; Sorensen and Mobini, 2017)
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