The Urban Nature Futures Framework (UNFF)

It is widely known that the planetary health is interlinked with the balance between rapidly growing cities and its impacts on the natural environment. Since it is projected that future urban expansion will have pressurs on ecological integrity, there is the needto combine future urban growth with biodiversity conservation in working towards the vision “humanity living in harmony with nature”.

Therefore the Nature Futures Framework was adapted to integrate nature values into participatory urban planning. The proposed UNFF acknowledges nature as integral part of urban planning that shapes the structure of a city while accounting for equity and environmental justice. The aim is to create multiple positive visions for nature in cities, enabling decision-makers, planners, institutions, and urban dwellers to explore multiple transformative pathways for sustainable cities. Based on that, three contrasting visions for each value corner of the NFF are developed.

1. Nature for Nature future: giving space for natural areas and biodiversity within cities while keeping human impact minimal
2. Nature for Society: enhancing Nature’s Contributions to People/ ecosystem services with green and blue infrastructure
3. Nature as Culture: securing equitable access to nature for recreation and space for cultural enjoyment in multiple ways

These visions support the implementation of the UNFF along four key components.

1. Identifying and leveraging socio-ecological feedbacks
2. Assessing indirect impacts
3. Establishing monitoring frameworks
4. Developing scenarios