Where-Else : Creating a dialogue tool to enhance green space allocation for the mitigation of noise and water runoff in urban settings.

Abstract: Cities around the world encounter global challenges, of which climate change is one. Urbanisation is resulting in inflexible land uses that are hard to reverse and cause fragmentation of green areas, which therefore decline in quality and contribute to the cities’ vulnerability to climate change. In recent years the concept of ecosystem services has gained recognition and is used more often in urban planning. However, focus in these discussions has not always been on urban green spaces. There is a lack of tools that in an operative way link green space allocation to provision of ecosystem services in early discussions about urban development. Tools exist that place the focus on the amount of green in urban planning. It is the establishment of a dialogue on how to identify the need for green in an urban area, identifying how the distribution of greenery can be operationalised on different city scales, and how it contributes to mitigating specific problems that are missing. This thesis contributes to the knowledge on the conceptual understanding of the potential and importance of urban green spaces to mitigate water and noise challenges, and contributes to starting semi-large scale discussions on climate change challenges and solutions in urban developments. By visualising the mitigation potentials, with the goal to create better informed decision making and urban planning processes, it contributes to the development of urban planning for sustainable development. Factors that contribute to the identification on where, what and how greenery can be implemented to mitigate the effects of urban sound and water challenges are identified and merged in a discussion tool, Where-Else, that is tested for its applicability. This thesis uses a mixed method approach based on grounded theory, and consists of two phases. Phase one is data collection and analysis in order to develop two discussion tools, applying a literature overview. Two questions are answered: how does greenery contribute to mitigating effects of sound and water challenges, and secondly, what are the most important factors to recognise? Both the effects of noise and water can be mitigated using greenery. Identified and noticeable important mitigation factors by greenery are: size, location and design for noise mitigation; and retention time, infiltration, evaporation and transpiration for water. In the second phase “Where-Else” is tested for its applicability and practical value, using interviews with urban ecosystem services experts, resulting in suggestions for improvements and the acknowledgement that there is a practical value for the developed tool.