Speaker
Description
Urban areas are emerging as central arenas for strategies to tackle global challenges in the context of interconnected climatic, ecological and social crises. One of the responses to these multiple challenges has been the integration of nature into cities, increasingly promoted in urban planning based on concepts such Nature-based Solutions (NbS). However, despite the growing endorsement of so-called green agendas within urban policies, there is a gap in understanding which and whose values and meanings of nature are being mobilized or excluded in imaginaries related to urban nature, raising questions about the imaginaries that underpin such concepts and their implications for urban transformations. This presentation, part of the “Naturescapes” project, investigates the official imaginaries - visions and narratives about desirable futures evoked in urban policy documents such as strategic plans, master plans, foresight studies and sustainability strategies - that shape institutional perspectives on nature and human-environment relations. We argue that these imaginaries, in addition to reflecting epistemic and power dynamics, have the potential to catalyze innovations in urban planning by allowing policymakers to imagine future possibilities and respond to evolving values, including nature's cultural and intrinsic services. The study examines the evolution of these imaginaries at different planning scales over the last two decades in Lisbon's Functional Urban Areas (FUA). Through semi-structured interviews, field visits, and documentary analysis, we explore which values of nature are being included or excluded, how these imaginaries have evolved over time, and how they can promote transformative changes in human-nature relations, pointing to pathways for more inclusive urban planning.
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
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