Natural Succession as a Solution for Sustainable, Resilient and Inclusive Cities

Accelerating climate change, increasing growth of urban populations and changes in the demographic composition put cities under considerable pressure, demanding multifunctional and cost-effective solutions for the retention of high living standards. In this light, the implementation of nature-based solutions (NBS) has gained much attention in urban planning and policy-making in recent years. Among the solutions discussed, urban areas where nature is given space to develop spontaneously, such as urban wildscapes or less managed lawns in urban parks, offer particular vantage points in terms of climate change adaptation and communal costs. From the point of view of distributive justice, however, little is known about urban dwellers’ preferences towards such “spontaneous greenspaces” and the distribution of their benefits and costs across social groups. Against this background, this project aims to develop a better understanding of the conditions under which spontaneous greenspaces, in their various shapes, are able to contribute to just cities that reconcile the need for climate change mitigation and adaptation with social inclusion (SDG 11). To this end, a photograph-based questionnaire survey with Viennese residents will be conducted and combined with a GIS-based approach to localise different types of spontaneous greenspaces across the city and assess their proximity to sites of residence of different social groups. By examining how preferences for spontaneous greenspaces vary across social groups and comparing these preferences with their (un)even distribution in the city of Vienna, it becomes possible to generate a comprehensive picture of the distribution of benefits and costs of spontaneous greenspaces in a concrete urban context. Furthermore, in taking perceptions of a wide range of benefits and costs as well as variations across spontaneous greenspaces into consideration, the analysis provides detailed insights about the linkages between their characteristics and contributions to well-being, enabling a context-sensitive approach to the implementation and design of such spaces.