Typology-based optimization reveals urban stream restoration priorities for biodiversity, climate adaptation and quality of life

Urban streams are expected to support biodiversity, climate adaptation and quality of life, yet restoration priorities are difficult to compare across networks. We analyzed 4,668 100-m stream segments across four Central European cities using a cross-case typology and Pareto optimization, identifying four corridor types: Urbanized high-pressure, Open low-access, Riparian-rich green and Steep valley. No type performed best across all goals. Optimal interventions differed by type: reducing impervious cover in Urbanized high-pressure corridors, reducing edge density in Open low-access corridors, combining lower edge density with longer slow-mobility routes in Riparian-rich green corridors, and increasing riparian tree cover in Steep valley corridors. For each corridor type, prioritized strategies involving only one or two interventions predicted increases of up to 18.8% in biodiversity, 12.5% in climate adaptation and 19.9% in quality of life. Increasing open space cover was absent from all optimized strategies, and adding interventions did not consistently improve all three goals. These findings show that urban stream restoration has no single best solution: priorities need to match corridor conditions while balancing ecological, climate and social goals across the whole stream network.