Mapping the research landscape of nature-based solutions in urbanism
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are an innovative concept that mimics the processes of natural ecosystems, popularized principally in the European Union. With a substantial body of literature amassed since the term’s inception in 2015, there is a need to systematically review existing literature to ide...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/65356/ |
| _version_ | 1848800216166170624 |
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| author | Li, Lei Cheshmehzangi, Ali Chan, Faith Ka Shun Ives, Christopher D. |
| author_facet | Li, Lei Cheshmehzangi, Ali Chan, Faith Ka Shun Ives, Christopher D. |
| author_sort | Li, Lei |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Nature-based solutions (NBS) are an innovative concept that mimics the processes of natural ecosystems, popularized principally in the European Union. With a substantial body of literature amassed since the term’s inception in 2015, there is a need to systematically review existing literature to identify overarching gaps and trends, according to disciplinary focus, geographic scope, and key themes, and direct future research inquiry and policy recommendations. This review consists of bibliometric analysis and thematic analysis for NBS studies in urbanism. NBS studies were found to relate strongly with other concepts of ‘Ecosystem Services’, ‘Green Infrastructure’, ‘Climate Change’, and ‘Risk management and Resilience’, which align with four major thematic goals set by the European Commission. Within NBS scholarship, various sub-themes have emerged, namely, ‘Greening’, ‘Urban Development’, ‘Water’, ‘Wellbeing’, and ‘Governance’. Furthermore, we illustrate that the amount and thematic focus of NBS research have been unevenly distributed worldwide. Analysis of emerging trends shows a recent increase in topics, such as adaptive governance of NBS, and the incorporation of social justice in sustainability transitions. Based on an assessment of extant NBS literature, we offer some recommendations for the future direction of the research fields. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:48:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-65356 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:48:02Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-653562021-06-04T03:25:42Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/65356/ Mapping the research landscape of nature-based solutions in urbanism Li, Lei Cheshmehzangi, Ali Chan, Faith Ka Shun Ives, Christopher D. Nature-based solutions (NBS) are an innovative concept that mimics the processes of natural ecosystems, popularized principally in the European Union. With a substantial body of literature amassed since the term’s inception in 2015, there is a need to systematically review existing literature to identify overarching gaps and trends, according to disciplinary focus, geographic scope, and key themes, and direct future research inquiry and policy recommendations. This review consists of bibliometric analysis and thematic analysis for NBS studies in urbanism. NBS studies were found to relate strongly with other concepts of ‘Ecosystem Services’, ‘Green Infrastructure’, ‘Climate Change’, and ‘Risk management and Resilience’, which align with four major thematic goals set by the European Commission. Within NBS scholarship, various sub-themes have emerged, namely, ‘Greening’, ‘Urban Development’, ‘Water’, ‘Wellbeing’, and ‘Governance’. Furthermore, we illustrate that the amount and thematic focus of NBS research have been unevenly distributed worldwide. Analysis of emerging trends shows a recent increase in topics, such as adaptive governance of NBS, and the incorporation of social justice in sustainability transitions. Based on an assessment of extant NBS literature, we offer some recommendations for the future direction of the research fields. 2021-04-01 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/65356/1/gold%209.pdf Li, Lei, Cheshmehzangi, Ali, Chan, Faith Ka Shun and Ives, Christopher D. (2021) Mapping the research landscape of nature-based solutions in urbanism. Sustainability, 13 (7). p. 3876. ISSN 2071-1050 nature-based solutions; sustainable urban development; green infrastructure; ecosystem services; climate change; adaptive governance http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13073876 doi: 10.3390/su13073876 doi: 10.3390/su13073876 |
| spellingShingle | nature-based solutions; sustainable urban development; green infrastructure; ecosystem services; climate change; adaptive governance Li, Lei Cheshmehzangi, Ali Chan, Faith Ka Shun Ives, Christopher D. Mapping the research landscape of nature-based solutions in urbanism |
| title | Mapping the research landscape of nature-based solutions in urbanism |
| title_full | Mapping the research landscape of nature-based solutions in urbanism |
| title_fullStr | Mapping the research landscape of nature-based solutions in urbanism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mapping the research landscape of nature-based solutions in urbanism |
| title_short | Mapping the research landscape of nature-based solutions in urbanism |
| title_sort | mapping the research landscape of nature-based solutions in urbanism |
| topic | nature-based solutions; sustainable urban development; green infrastructure; ecosystem services; climate change; adaptive governance |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/65356/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/65356/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/65356/ |