Planning Green Infrastructure and Nature-based Solutions in Stockholm County : An Analysis of Comprehensive Plans since 2010 of 26 Municipalities

Bringing nature back to cities to counteract the negative impacts of rapid urbanization has resulted in a series of greening terms coined by multidisciplinary scholars to emphasize the importance of natural areas and green environment in developing cities. Green infrastructure and nature-based solutions are popular scientific terms that are used to describe planning interventions for naturalization cities, but most of their studies still focus on academic literature, lacking attention to municipal plans. This study aims to identify terms related to green infrastructure and nature-based solutions in planning, analyze how these terms are used and varied in the municipal comprehensive plans in Stockholm County, and explore if the socioeconomic factors and context of these municipalities correlate to any variation. The study used systematic mapping literature and personal communication with planners to identify the relevant terms of green infrastructure and nature-based solutions, in order to carry out quantitative and qualitative analyses of the identified terms in the comprehensive plans of the municipalities in the county using NVivo and SPSS. The quantification analyses show that the integration of these terms varies significantly among municipalities even though the number of terms grows over time; however, this variation does not follow or correlate to any socioeconomic factors that characterize the municipalities. There are also differences between municipal plans in terms of definitions, functions, and other categories of content about the use of the terms. Regional plans are found to impact narrowing these differences significantly. Thus, regional authorities are suggested to publish the core principles on these terms to ensure the consistency of understanding among municipalities. Furthermore, a diagram of these terms showing how they are currently related to each other in most of the plans is concluded as a basis for future cross-municipal and intra-regional conversations. Future studies are recommended to focus on green infrastructure and nature-based solutions in detailed plans and green plans for implementation and a deeper understanding and to have more interviews with the planners for supporting planning practices of green infrastructure and nature-based solutions in cities.