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Incorporating nature-based infrastructure into towns and cities can help address a variety of challenges including climate change, biodiversity loss, and the global infrastructure gap. By leveraging the benefits of natural ecosystems, urban NBI can create more sustainable, resilient, and liveable cities for all.

How does urban NBI help the environment?

Urban NBI can take many forms, such as parks, green roofs and walls, street trees, urban wetlands and ponds, sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS), and community gardens.

Urban trees and green spaces absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, storing carbon in biomass and the soil. They also create habitats for a wide range of species that may otherwise struggle to find shelter and food in the urban environment, improving biodiversity, while green roofs and walls support pollinators that are essential to the health of ecosystems.

Green spaces and SUDS can also be employed to absorb some of the impacts of extreme weather caused by climate change. In the face of extreme rains that lead to an excess of stormwater, SUDS and parks retain water and reduce the risk of urban flooding. Urban centres are beginning to restore green spaces with the aim of becoming ‘sponge cities’.

Green architecture in Camden London at day

What benefits does urban NBI provide for society?

Park in Lujiazui financial centre, Shanghai, China

The presence of trees and green space offers within urban landscapes offers numerous social benefits. Being close to nature has been shown to reduce stress, improve mental health, and encourage physical activity, all of which contribute to public health.

Air quality is another challenge that cities are facing. Air pollution is the largest environmental threat to human health worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, causing 8.43 million premature deaths annually. Vegetation can absorb harmful air pollutants like particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, improving air quality and lowering the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases within communities.

Trees and parks also help us tackle temperature increases due to climate change, by providing natural cooling through shade and transpiration. This helps to mitigate the urban heat island effect and make cities more livable, especially for those who are particularly vulnerable to heat.

Urban NBI can also help address the inequality surrounding access to green spaces. The Sustainable Development Goals prioritize this, with Goal 11.7 aiming to provide ‘universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces’. Currently, 56% of the world’s live in cities and this expected to more than double by 2050, when it is predicted that nearly 7 in 10 people will live in urban areas. Increasing access to urban green space should therefore be a priority for urban planners, particularly in the global south, where it has been found that cities have less urban green space than the global north.

What are the economic benefits of urban NBI?

Urban NBI offers substantial cost savings for cities, businesses, and municipalities through their infrastructure services, reducing the need for costly grey infrastructure like air conditioning, water treatment and flood protection. Moreover, NBI reduces the risk of extreme heat, avoiding productivity losses and disruptions.

Tourists are attracted to green, well-designed and attractive cities, boosting tourism revenue and supporting local business owners. Urban NBI projects can also create jobs in landscape design, construction, and maintenance, creating new economic opportunities for local communities.

Finally, green spaces can increase property values, benefiting homeowners and generating additional tax revenue for municipalities. Green spaces can also increase retail revenues in nearby businesses.

Overall, urban NBI is a valuable tool in helping cities to adapt to the impacts of climate change, create economic opportunities, and increase liveability for its residents. Here are some urban NBI case studies that quantify the costs and benefits of these factors.

Case Studies