IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i22p12875-d684325.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fostering Sustainable Cities through Resilience Thinking: The Role of Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs): Lessons Learned from Two Italian Case Studies

Author

Listed:
  • Marcelo Enrique Conti

    (Department of Management, University of Rome, Sapienza, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, 00161 Rome, Italy)

  • Massimo Battaglia

    (Department of Management, University of Rome, Sapienza, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, 00161 Rome, Italy)

  • Mario Calabrese

    (Department of Management, University of Rome, Sapienza, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, 00161 Rome, Italy)

  • Cristina Simone

    (Department of Management, University of Rome, Sapienza, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, 00161 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

Adopting an interdisciplinary approach and framing sustainability issues from a resilience perspective, our paper first aimed to highlight nature-based solutions (NBSs) as levers to foster sustainable cities consistent with Agenda 2030-SDG 11 (2015) and the New Urban Agenda (Habitat III, 2016). Second, we empirically analyzed two Italian municipalities that are experimenting with initiatives of sustainable urban management and planning based on NBSs: the Municipality of Lucca in Tuscany and the Municipality of Latina in the Latium Region. These municipalities present institutional and socioeconomic similarities, making them an interesting study setting that allows us to draw significant lessons. We conducted four research steps: (1) theoretical background analysis, including resilience thinking in sustainable urban management. We investigated the role of NBSs in enabling urban resilience according to the last level of resilience, i.e., the transformative level. (2) We studied the contributions of NBSs to sustainable cities and resilience thinking. (3) We analyzed the NBSs’ projects of Lucca and Latina, and (4) we proposed an urban managerial tool: the NBSs’ curve, which facilitates the estimation of the NBS ecosystem endowment. The results of the NBS initiatives presented in this study have a two-fold value. First, they aim to combine citizens’ well-being with ecological and environmental aspects by better managing urban spaces that facilitate interpersonal relationships and resource sharing. Second, they are developed to meet the needs of local groups by serving as a stimulus (Fridays For Future movement) and as enablers (local associations) of managed actions. The lessons learned about the enhancement of sustainable cities through NBSs were thoroughly debated.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcelo Enrique Conti & Massimo Battaglia & Mario Calabrese & Cristina Simone, 2021. "Fostering Sustainable Cities through Resilience Thinking: The Role of Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs): Lessons Learned from Two Italian Case Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12875-:d:684325
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12875/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12875/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sofia Nikolaidou & Tanja Klöti & Simone Tappert & Matthias Drilling, 2016. "Urban Gardening and Green Space Governance: Towards New Collaborative Planning Practices," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 1(1), pages 5-19.
    2. Gómez-Baggethun, Erik & de Groot, Rudolf & Lomas, Pedro L. & Montes, Carlos, 2010. "The history of ecosystem services in economic theory and practice: From early notions to markets and payment schemes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 1209-1218, April.
    3. van den Berg, Agnes E. & Maas, Jolanda & Verheij, Robert A. & Groenewegen, Peter P., 2010. "Green space as a buffer between stressful life events and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(8), pages 1203-1210, April.
    4. Seeland, Klaus & Dübendorfer, Sabine & Hansmann, Ralf, 2009. "Making friends in Zurich's urban forests and parks: The role of public green space for social inclusion of youths from different cultures," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 10-17, January.
    5. Sharifi, Ayyoob & Yamagata, Yoshiki, 2016. "Principles and criteria for assessing urban energy resilience: A literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1654-1677.
    6. M. Nyström & J.-B. Jouffray & A. V. Norström & B. Crona & P. Søgaard Jørgensen & S. R. Carpenter & Ö. Bodin & V. Galaz & C. Folke, 2019. "Anatomy and resilience of the global production ecosystem," Nature, Nature, vol. 575(7781), pages 98-108, November.
    7. So-Min Cheong & Brian Silliman & Poh Poh Wong & Bregje van Wesenbeeck & Choong-Ki Kim & Greg Guannel, 2013. "Coastal adaptation with ecological engineering," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 3(9), pages 787-791, September.
    8. Annesi, Nora & Battaglia, Massimo & Gragnani, Patrizia & Iraldo, Fabio, 2021. "Integrating the 2030 Agenda at the municipal level: Multilevel pressures and institutional shift," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    9. Abson, D.J. & von Wehrden, H. & Baumgärtner, S. & Fischer, J. & Hanspach, J. & Härdtle, W. & Heinrichs, H. & Klein, A.M. & Lang, D.J. & Martens, P. & Walmsley, D., 2014. "Ecosystem services as a boundary object for sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 29-37.
    10. Megan Horst & Nathan McClintock & Lesli Hoey, 2017. "The Intersection of Planning, Urban Agriculture, and Food Justice: A Review of the Literature," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(3), pages 277-295, July.
    11. Yangang Xing & Phil Jones & Iain Donnison, 2017. "Characterisation of Nature-Based Solutions for the Built Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-20, January.
    12. Anna Rita Manca & Peter Benczur & Enrico Giovannini, 2017. "Building a Scientific Narrative Towards a More Resilient EU Society. Part 1: a Conceptual Framework," JRC Research Reports JRC106265, Joint Research Centre.
    13. Ross Gillard, 2016. "Questioning the Diffusion of Resilience Discourses in Pursuit of Transformational Change," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 13-20, February.
    14. Shanahan, D.F. & Lin, B.B. & Bush, R. & Gaston, K.J. & Dean, J.H. & Barber, E. & Fuller, R.A., 2015. "Toward improved public health outcomes from urban nature," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(3), pages 470-477.
    15. Shashwat Koirala, 2019. "SMEs: Key drivers of green and inclusive growth," OECD Green Growth Papers 2019/03, OECD Publishing.
    16. Giovannini, Enrico & Benczur, Peter & Campolongo, Francesca & Cariboni, Jessica & Manca, Anna Rita, 2020. "Time for transformative resilience: the COVID-19 emergency," JRC Research Reports JRC120489, Joint Research Centre.
    17. Raymond, Christopher M. & Frantzeskaki, Niki & Kabisch, Nadja & Berry, Pam & Breil, Margaretha & Nita, Mihai Razvan & Geneletti, Davide & Calfapietra, Carlo, 2017. "A framework for assessing and implementing the co-benefits of nature-based solutions in urban areas," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 15-24.
    18. Matthew Warren, 2019. "Thousands of scientists are backing the kids striking for climate change," Nature, Nature, vol. 567(7748), pages 291-292, March.
    19. Lachowycz, Kate & Jones, Andy P., 2014. "Does walking explain associations between access to greenspace and lower mortality?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 9-17.
    20. Babí Almenar, Javier & Elliot, Thomas & Rugani, Benedetto & Philippe, Bodénan & Navarrete Gutierrez, Tomas & Sonnemann, Guido & Geneletti, Davide, 2021. "Nexus between nature-based solutions, ecosystem services and urban challenges," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anna Staniewska & Izabela Sykta & Agnieszka Ozimek & Krzysztof Barnaś & Mariusz Dudek & Magdalena Marasik & Kinga Racoń-Leja, 2023. "Framework for the Design of a Small Transport Hub as an Interdisciplinary Challenge to Implement Sustainable Solutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-32, July.
    2. Anna Domaradzka & Mikołaj Biesaga & Ewa Domaradzka & Magdalena Kołodziejczyk, 2022. "The Civil City Framework for the Implementation of Nature-Based Smart Innovations: Right to a Healthy City Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-20, August.
    3. Karmele Herranz-Pascual & Igone Garcia-Pérez & Saioa Zorita & Carolina García-Madruga & Carolina Cantergiani & Julita Skodra & Ioseba Iraurgi, 2023. "A Proposal of a Tool to Assess Psychosocial Benefits of Nature-Based Interventions for Sustainable Built Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-14, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rau, Anna-Lena & von Wehrden, Henrik & Abson, David J., 2018. "Temporal Dynamics of Ecosystem Services," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 122-130.
    2. Asitha De Silva & Dilanthi Amaratunga & Richard Haigh, 2022. "Green and Blue Infrastructure as Nature-Based Better Preparedness Solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction: Key Policy Aspects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-26, December.
    3. Luederitz, Christopher & Brink, Ebba & Gralla, Fabienne & Hermelingmeier, Verena & Meyer, Moritz & Niven, Lisa & Panzer, Lars & Partelow, Stefan & Rau, Anna-Lena & Sasaki, Ryuei & Abson, David J. & La, 2015. "A review of urban ecosystem services: six key challenges for future research," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 98-112.
    4. Marzena Suchocka & Paweł Jankowski & Magdalena Błaszczyk, 2019. "Perception of Urban Trees by Polish Tree Professionals vs. Nonprofessionals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, January.
    5. Lingbo Liu & Yuni Zhong & Siya Ao & Hao Wu, 2019. "Exploring the Relevance of Green Space and Epidemic Diseases Based on Panel Data in China from 2007 to 2016," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-21, July.
    6. Alessandro Rigolon & Matthew H. E. M. Browning & Olivia McAnirlin & Hyunseo (Violet) Yoon, 2021. "Green Space and Health Equity: A Systematic Review on the Potential of Green Space to Reduce Health Disparities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-27, March.
    7. Vujcic, Maja & Tomicevic-Dubljevic, Jelena, 2018. "Urban forest benefits to the younger population: The case study of the city of Belgrade, Serbia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 54-62.
    8. Britta Restemeyer & Floris C. Boogaard, 2020. "Potentials and Pitfalls of Mapping Nature-Based Solutions with the Online Citizen Science Platform ClimateScan," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, December.
    9. Valencia Torres, Angélica & Tiwari, Chetan & Atkinson, Samuel F., 2021. "Progress in ecosystem services research: A guide for scholars and practitioners," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    10. Rob Roggema & Nico Tillie & Greg Keeffe, 2021. "Nature-Based Urbanization: Scan Opportunities, Determine Directions and Create Inspiring Ecologies," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-30, June.
    11. Aitziber Egusquiza & Maider Arana-Bollar & Amaia Sopelana & Javier Babí Almenar, 2021. "Conceptual and Operational Integration of Governance, Financing, and Business Models for Urban Nature-Based Solutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-28, October.
    12. Steger, Cara & Hirsch, Shana & Evers, Cody & Branoff, Benjamin & Petrova, Maria & Nielsen-Pincus, Max & Wardropper, Chloe & van Riper, Carena J., 2018. "Ecosystem Services as Boundary Objects for Transdisciplinary Collaboration," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 153-160.
    13. Chloé Duffaut & Nathalie Frascaria-Lacoste & Pierre-Antoine Versini, 2022. "Barriers and Levers for the Implantation of Sustainable Nature-Based Solutions in Cities: Insights from France," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-19, August.
    14. Diana Dushkova & Annegret Haase & Manuel Wolff & Dagmar Haase, 2021. "Editorial for Special Issue “Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in Cities and Their Interactions with Urban Land, Ecosystems, Built Environments and People: Debating Societal Implications”," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-7, September.
    15. Hanson, Helena I. & Wickenberg, Björn & Alkan Olsson, Johanna, 2020. "Working on the boundaries—How do science use and interpret the nature-based solution concept?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    16. Lincoln R Larson & Viniece Jennings & Scott A Cloutier, 2016. "Public Parks and Wellbeing in Urban Areas of the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-19, April.
    17. Vidya Anderson & William A. Gough, 2022. "A Typology of Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Development: An Analysis of Form, Function, Nomenclature, and Associated Applications," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-22, July.
    18. Sagie, Hila & Orenstein, Daniel E., 2022. "Benefits of Stakeholder integration in an ecosystem services assessment of Mount Carmel Biosphere Reserve, Israel," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    19. Hai-Ying Liu & Marion Jay & Xianwen Chen, 2021. "The Role of Nature-Based Solutions for Improving Environmental Quality, Health and Well-Being," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-56, October.
    20. Hysing, Erik, 2021. "Challenges and opportunities for the Ecosystem Services approach: Evaluating experiences of implementation in Sweden," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12875-:d:684325. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.