TY - JOUR
T1 - Creating nature-based solutions where they are needed – A spatial ecosystem service-based decision analysis of green roofs in Barcelona
AU - Langemeyer, Johannes
AU - Wedgwood, Diego
AU - McPhearson, Timon
AU - Baró, Francesc
AU - Madsen, Anders L.
AU - Barton, David N.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded through Horizon 2020 Program of the European Commission project ‘NATURVATION’ (code 730243 ) and the 2015–2016 BiodivERsA COFUND call for research proposals, with the national funders the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences, and Spatial Planning ; Swedish Environmental Protection Agency ; German Aerospace Center (DLR); National Science Centre (Poland); the Research Council of Norway ; and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities . This research was also supported through the Maria de Maetzu Unit of Excellence grant ( MDM-2015-0552 ) at ICTA-UAB. TM's participation was additionally supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation through the Urban Resilience to Extreme Weather-Related Events Sustainability Research Network (URExSRN; NSF grant no. SES 1444755 ). The manuscript is based on a study conducted as an MSc thesis by DW, which was funded through an Erasmus Mundus scholarship by the European Commission contract number JEMES CiSu UAB 2016 /No.1. Thanks to all collaborators namely Cynthia Echave (and the Agencia de Ecologia Urbá), Nicholas Martin, Zofie Cimburova, Alaitz Zabala Torres, Martin Karlsen, Luís Campos, Marta Conde, Isabelle Anguelovski and to all the participants who attended the workshop as well as the Barcelona Municipal Institute for People with Disabilities (IMPD) for hosting the event. We would finally like to thank two unknown reviewers and the editor for their valuable remarks and deep engagement with the manuscript.
PY - 2020/3/10
Y1 - 2020/3/10
N2 - As cities face increasing pressure from densification trends, green roofs represent a valuable source of ecosystem services for residents of compact metropolises where available green space is scarce. However, to date little research has been conducted regarding the holistic benefits of green roofs at a citywide scale, with local policymakers lacking practical guidance to inform expansion of green roofs coverage. The study addresses this issue by developing a spatial multi-criteria screening tool applied in Barcelona, Spain to determine: 1) where green roofs should be prioritized in Barcelona based on expert elicited demand for a wide range of ecosystem services and 2) what type of design of potential green roofs would optimize the ecosystem service provision. As inputs to the model, fifteen spatial indicators were selected as proxies for ecosystem service deficits and demands (thermal regulation, runoff control, habitat and pollination, food production, recreation, and social cohesion) along with five decision alternatives for green roof design (extensive, semi-intensive, intensive, naturalized, and allotment). These indicators and alternatives were analyzed probabilistically and spatially, then weighted according to feedback from local experts. Results of the assessment indicate that there is high demand across Barcelona for the ecosystem services that green roofs potentially might provide, particularly in dense residential neighborhoods and the industrial south. Experts identified habitat, pollination and thermal regulation as the most needed ES with runoff control and food production as the least demanded. Naturalized roofs generated the highest potential ecosystem service provision levels for 87.5% of rooftop area, apart from smaller areas of central Barcelona where intensive rooftops were identified as the preferable green roof design. Overall, the spatial model developed in this study offers a flexible screening based on spatial multi-criteria decision analysis that can be easily adjusted to guide municipal policy in other cities considering the effectiveness of green infrastructure as source of ecosystem services.
AB - As cities face increasing pressure from densification trends, green roofs represent a valuable source of ecosystem services for residents of compact metropolises where available green space is scarce. However, to date little research has been conducted regarding the holistic benefits of green roofs at a citywide scale, with local policymakers lacking practical guidance to inform expansion of green roofs coverage. The study addresses this issue by developing a spatial multi-criteria screening tool applied in Barcelona, Spain to determine: 1) where green roofs should be prioritized in Barcelona based on expert elicited demand for a wide range of ecosystem services and 2) what type of design of potential green roofs would optimize the ecosystem service provision. As inputs to the model, fifteen spatial indicators were selected as proxies for ecosystem service deficits and demands (thermal regulation, runoff control, habitat and pollination, food production, recreation, and social cohesion) along with five decision alternatives for green roof design (extensive, semi-intensive, intensive, naturalized, and allotment). These indicators and alternatives were analyzed probabilistically and spatially, then weighted according to feedback from local experts. Results of the assessment indicate that there is high demand across Barcelona for the ecosystem services that green roofs potentially might provide, particularly in dense residential neighborhoods and the industrial south. Experts identified habitat, pollination and thermal regulation as the most needed ES with runoff control and food production as the least demanded. Naturalized roofs generated the highest potential ecosystem service provision levels for 87.5% of rooftop area, apart from smaller areas of central Barcelona where intensive rooftops were identified as the preferable green roof design. Overall, the spatial model developed in this study offers a flexible screening based on spatial multi-criteria decision analysis that can be easily adjusted to guide municipal policy in other cities considering the effectiveness of green infrastructure as source of ecosystem services.
KW - Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN)
KW - Cities
KW - Green infrastructure (GI)
KW - Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA)
KW - Nature-based solutions (NBS)
KW - Urban
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85076003322&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135487
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135487
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 31759703
VL - 707
SP - 135487
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
M1 - 135487
ER -
