What we are doing
Increased urbanisation and expansion of urban areas, particularly in China but also in Europe, causes radical changes to, and eradication and fragmentation of, ecosystems and Green Infrastructure (GI). Europe is already one of the most urbanised continents in the world with about 74% of Europeans living in urban areas, while the level of urbanisation in Asia is around 50% (UN, 2018). The urbanisation trend continues in Europe: projections for 2050 expect 84% of the total population to live in urban areas, while China’s urbanisation rate is expected to grow from the present day’s 61% to 80% by 2050 (ibid). Changes in climate and environment, and decision-making and management approaches make urban zones more susceptible to flooding, overheating, resulting in loss of urban biodiversity, green areas and open streams. Urban and transport development has persistent impacts on air quality and health, and segregation and gentrification leaves socially less advantaged in densely populated neighbourhoods. This enhances other threats to sound urban developments, such as citizens’ interaction with their natural environment. The premise for REGREEN is that implementation of well devised nature-based elements in the urban design and infrastructure, that take advantage of the multiplicity of services that ecosystem functions can provide, and take into account their relevant scales and structure, will result in urban developments that better meets citizen’s expectations of a healthy, biodiverse, and resilient urban life. The overall aim of REGREEN is to promote urban liveability, by systematically modelling and combining ecosystem services and biodiversity as the basis for NBS that can be widely deployed by public and private actors.
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