An urban ecosystem refers to the interaction between natural processes and human activities within a city or urbanised area. In the Nordic region, urban ecosystems are shaped by a unique blend of cultural and environmental factors, including seasonal variations and proximity to natural landscapes such as forests, lakes, and fjords. Urban ecosystems are strongly influenced by human activities that have modified the once natural environment. The interplay between built infrastructure and natural spaces creates a complex habitat and home to species that can adapt to such urban environments. However, these species often differ from those in more natural environments.
As cities and urban areas expand, natural habitats are often replaced by buildings, roads, and parking lots, fragmenting ecosystems and impacting biodiversity. However, urban environments also offer unique opportunities for nature-based solutions. Making nature a part of cities through parks, green rooftops, community gardens and blue features like ponds, streams and raingardens has become increasingly important.
Urban ecosystems are not just home to humans and habitats for urban wildlife, they are also vital for addressing societal challenges, which can be addressed by integrating NbS into urban areas. These solutions can enhance biodiversity, reduce pollution, and help adapt to climate change, while also improving the quality of life for urban communities. Including NbS into urban planning and development can contribute to resilient urban communities in the several ways:
Biodiversity enhancement: By incorporating NbS into urban planning and development, cities and urban areas can support biodiversity. Green spaces, urban forests, and urban streams and wetlands provide living spaces for wildlife that conventional city planning does not.
Human health and wellbeing: Cities in the Nordics also increasingly recognize benefits to human health and wellbeing which are linked to having access to nature in urban areas.
Climate change mitigation and adaptation: Planting urban trees can help regulate temperature and create more livable spaces. Establishing raingardens and swales and resurfacing historic streams can help manage increased rainfall, reduce flood risk, and improve water quality in urban areas.
Disaster risk and preparedness: Urban wetlands, swales and rain gardens can filter water and contribute to reducing stormwater flooding, thus contributing to disaster preparedness, which urban areas are often very vulnerable to.
Urban ecosystem before NbS have been implemented
Urban ecosystem after NbS have been implemented
Are you unsure how to choose an NbS for an urban ecosystem? See our general guidance on Nature-based solutions!
You may also be interested in the S-ITUATION project's factsheet on urban areas, which describes types of NbS that are typically used to solve various problems in specific land-use contexts.
These pages have been written by Line Barkved, Ingvild Skumlien Furuseth and Caroline Enge
Brattström et al (2023) Mikroklimat och värmeöar - ur ett urbant landskapsperspektiv
Kupilas, Seifert-Dähnn & Enge (2023). Nordic NBS fact sheet Urban nature-based solutions. https://nordicsituation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/s-ituation-factsheet-urban-nbs-1.pdf
Venter, Z. S., Hassani, A., Stange, E., Schneider, P., & Castell, N. (2024). Reassessing the role of urban green space in air pollution control. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(6), e2306200121.
NbS catalogue: a catalogue of nature-based solutions for urban resilience.The guide has info for different types of cities based on their location in the river basin. To a degree, the position of a city determines the suitability of NbS types. To help select appropriate NbS the catalogue contains 14 NBS categories (NbS families).
UNALAB technical handbook of nature-based solutions: The UNaLab project has developed a first draft version of its Technical Handbook of NbS. The handbook provides accurate, detailed information on the full range of potentially applicable nature-based solutions to support urban climate and water resilience, their anticipated or demonstrated performance, and their limitations.
NATWiP Handbook: A handbook for practitioners to promote and inspire implementation of nature-based solutions in peri-urban areas
UrbanGreenUP: tools and resources for selection of NbS