Ecosystem services in infrastructure planning – a case study of the projected deepening of the Lower Weser river in Germany

We consider how ecosystem services can be incorporated into water infrastructure planning by studying the projected deepening of the Lower Weser river channel in Germany. We recalculate the project's benefit–cost ratio by integrating the monetary value of changes in different ecosystem services, as follows: (1) the restoration costs of a mitigation measure for a loss in fresh water supply for agricultural production in the estuary region, (2) the costs of a loss in habitat services, transferring the willingness to pay from a contingent valuation study to the area assessed in the environmental impact assessment, and (3) the benefits of emissions savings induced by more efficient shipping, taking a marginal abatement cost approach. We find that including monetary values for ecosystem service changes leads to a substantial drop in the benefit–cost ratio. On this basis, we argue for a reform of the standard cost–benefit analysis to facilitate more complete welfare assessments.     

Assessing the socio-economic impacts of green/blue space,urban residential and road infrastructure projects in the Confluence (Lyon): a hedonic pricing simulation approach

Urban green/blue spaces are put under pressure as urban areas grow, develop and evolve. It is increasingly recognized, however, that green/blue spaces provide important ecosystem services, stimulate higher real estate prices and prevent flooding problems. This paper aims to assess and compare the socio-economic impacts of potential green/blue space, urban residential and road infrastructure development scenarios in the Lyon Confluence project area (France), using the Sustainable Urbanizing Landscape Development (SULD) hedonic pricing simulation model. Results show four major tendencies regarding the value-added of green/blue spaces in urban landscapes: (1) cities become more compact; (2) population densities increase; (3) real estate values rise; and (4) demographic distribution patterns change. The magnitude of these impacts depends, however, on the quality and size of the intervention, the social classes attracted to the intervention area and on the location of the intervention relative to existing residential areas, urban centres, road infrastructure and environmental amenities.     

Climate change adaptation in the urban planning and design research: missing links and research agenda

This paper investigates the extent and the nature of how the urban planning literature has addressed climate change adaptation. It presents a longitudinal study of 157 peer-reviewed articles published from 2000 to 2013 in the leading urban planning and design journals whose selection considered earlier empirical studies that ranked them these journals. The findings reveal that the years 2006–07 represent a turning point, after which climate change studies appear more prominently and consistently in the urban planning and design literature; however, the majority of these studies address climate change mitigation rather than adaptation. Most adaptation studies deal with governance, social learning, and vulnerability assessments, while paying little attention to physical planning and urban design interventions. This paper identifies four gaps that pertain to the lack of interdisciplinary linkages, the absence of knowledge transfer, the presence of scale conflict, and the dearth of participatory research methods. It then advocates for the advancement of participatory and collaborative action research to meet the multifaceted challenges of climate change.     

Structural factors influencing conservation decision-making: a case of species prioritisation in Australia

Prioritisation methods have been adopted for >20 years to inform resource allocation in species conservation. The academic literature on prioritisation focuses on technical matters, with little attention to the socio-political factors affecting the uptake of priorities. We investigated the policy instruments employed to promote uptake, and the structural factors affecting the uptake of priorities, using as our case study a species prioritisation method adopted by the Queensland Government (Australia). We interviewed 79 key informants and analysed policy documents and plans. The Queensland Government relied on ‘information delivery’ as a policy instrument to foster uptake. We identified communication channels to assist ‘information delivery’ between Government and intended users, but also found that several structural factors limited their use: fragmentation of policies, the relative strength of alternative priorities and centralisation of power in decision-making. We discuss the results in relation to other conservation planning initiatives and suggest how structural barriers can be addressed.     

Water-smart growth planning: linking water and land in the arid urbanizing American West

Linking water and land is essential in planning for the future of the western United States. We propose the concept of ‘water-smart growth’ and explore its implications through incorporating water considerations into the SLEUTH land-use model. The urban growth trajectory in Cache County, Utah, is modeled from 2007 to 2030 under four different scenarios: current trend; smart growth; water-smart growth with moderate implementation; and water-smart growth with full implementation. Comparisons of simulation results illustrate the extent and ways in which water-smart growth would alter current established land-use growth patterns. The approach represents an initial step to better integrate land and water in urban growth modeling and planning. This study's purposes are to provide improved understanding and representation of linkages between water and land in urbanizing environments, offer insights from a set of modeled options, and demonstrate the significance of integrating land and water in planning practices.     

How planners and stakeholders learn with visualization tools: using learning sciences methods to examine planning processes

Planning researchers traditionally conceptualize learning as cognitive changes in individuals. In this tradition, scholars assess learning with pre- and post-measures of understandings or beliefs. While valuable for documenting individual change, such methods leave unexamined the social processes in which planners think, act, and learn in groups, which often involve the use of technical tools. The present interdisciplinary research program used Learning Sciences research methods, including conversation analysis, interaction analysis, and visualization of discourse codes, to understand how tools like agent-based models and geographic information systems mediate learning in planning groups. The objective was to understand how the use of these tools in participatory planning can help stakeholders learn about complex environmental problems, to make more informed judgments about the future. The paper provides three cases that illustrate the capacity of such research methods to provide insights into planning groups’ learning processes, and the mediating roles of planning tools.     

Evaluating consistency of stakeholder input into participatory GIS-based multiple criteria evaluation: a case study of ecotourism development in Kurdistan

Multiple criteria evaluation (MCE) is often used with GIS to identify suitable sites for multi-purpose development such as ecotourism. Typically, expert or stakeholder consultation is used to identify weights reflecting the relative importance of map layers representing different criteria. The objective of this study was to evaluate a new consultative approach to GIS-based MCE, using ecotourism development in Kurdistan, Iraq, as a case study. In an initial and follow-up consultation, stakeholders were asked not only to assess the relative importance of different map layers for ecotourism development, but also to identify specific sites suitable for ecotourism. Seventy-eight ecotourism destinations nominated by participants had significantly higher MCE scores than a set of 58 locations chosen without reference to stakeholders (t-test = 21.16; p < 0.001). The approach thus provides a straightforward means of assessing the consistency of stakeholder input into MCE and could be adapted for use in other site suitability assessments.     

关于推进浙江省规划环境影响评价的思考

推进规划环境影响评价,既是贯彻落实<中华人民共和国环境影响评价法>、促进生态文明建设的需要.也是环境保护行政主管部门加强污染源头控制、参与宏观决策的有效途径.在对江苏、云南、重庆等地进行实地调研的基础上,分析了中国当前规划环境影响评价工作所面临的形势,重点研究了浙江省在推进规划环境影响评价工作中需要重点关注的问题,并提出了浙江省推进规划环境影响评价的相关建议.     

The digital workshop: exploring the use of interactive and immersive visualisation tools in participatory planning

This paper examines the emerging role of digital tools in a collaborative planning process for British Columbia's Bowen Island. The goal of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a 'digital workshop', combining the interactive CommunityViz tool with the immersive lab facilities at the Collaborative for Advanced Landscape Planning (CALP). In support of the larger community planning process, two 3-h workshops were held at CALP's Landscape Immersion Lab. To facilitate collaborative exploration, the interactive landscape visualisation and real-time data analysis capabilities of CommunityViz were employed to illustrate the possible outcomes of residential density policies for Bowen Island's Snug Cove community. The community planning workshops were structured to provide the 14 semi-expert participants with the opportunity to explore and discuss the contentious residential density components of the draft Snug Cove Village Plan. The abilities to dynamically explore the visualisations of the planning proposals, and to see real-time changes in indicator metrics were considered particularly informative, and appeared to increase participants' understanding of the plan. Written and verbal responses indicated, however, that there was insufficient time to examine and interact with the information during the workshop, suggesting a need to examine in greater depth how and when these tools might best be employed in collaborative settings. Current and future research relating to this project is discussed.     

Differences in bioregional classifications among four aquatic biotic groups: Implications for conservation reserve design and monitoring programs

Bioregional classifications are used extensively for conservation management and monitoring programs. This study used generalised dissimilarity modelling (GDM) to test the ability of different regional classifications of four groups of aquatic biota to be used as surrogates for each other. Classifications were derived for aquatic macrophytes, macroinvertebrates, freshwater fish and frogs using community-level modelling, or GDM, which relates the biotic assemblage structure with environmental variables. Six regions were defined for each biotic group for the State of New South Wales. Regional classifications differed markedly between the different biotic groups because the environmental drivers that were related to species turnover throughout the region differed among groups. Altitude and rainfall were the strongest drivers of species turnover among the groups. Results suggest that physiographic variables should be incorporated in reserve design and monitoring programs to explicitly address differences in classifications between similar biotic groups.