Urban planners can address sustainability by leveraging urban potential for people and nature but face significant challenges in integrating diverse knowledge and facilitating collaboration. Geodesign, as a methodological approach, has the potential to support collaborative urban planning by managing the ‘boundaries’ between diverse knowledge holders. However, there is a paucity of empirical evidence and systematic assessment of its contribution to ‘boundary work’. The latter refers to the efforts to navigate the interface between diverse stakeholders engaged in co-producing knowledge for sustainability. This paper aims to evaluate how a geodesign process facilitates knowledge co-production through boundary work and to assess the scientific credibility, political saliency, and procedural legitimacy of its outputs in sustainable urban planning. We adapt and further develop recent conceptual frameworks of geodesign from a boundary work perspective and propose a systematic, adaptable, and replicable framework and protocol for assessing boundary work in future applications. We tested our approach in a case study of a collaborative geodesign process for ambitious urban transformations with nature-based solutions in the Skarpnäck district of Stockholm, Sweden, involving fourteen planning stakeholders in a two-day workshop. The findings indicate that all geodesign steps facilitated enhanced communication by promoting discussions and collective reasoning, although to varying degrees. Participants acknowledged contributions to knowledge co-production and decision-making by mediating between different perspectives and opinions. Data quality was identified as a critical factor affecting perceived credibility. Reservations were expressed regarding the translation function. Recommendations for future applications include co-designing the geodesign process, improving capacity and skills, and facilitating more integrated planning.

Advancing towards urban futures in which both human communities and ecosystems can thrive requires transformative change (TC). Spatial planning can serve as a backbone for inspiring and fostering the desired transformation of cities. However, to support this transformation, the challenge for spatial planning is to create unconventional plans that account for the complex trade-offs and interactions of different scenarios through participatory procedures. A promising approach for addressing this challenge is geodesign, since it couples spatial co-design with impact simulations. This paper aims to explore how, and with what effects, a geodesign process can support the co-creation of transformative urban plans that enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services while meeting urban development goals. A geodesign process was developed and deployed for a case study neighbourhood in Stockholm, Sweden. Two scenario storylines were developed: one that follows the current city plan, and another one where the most transformative elements of the plan are further emphasized. Fourteen planning stakeholders divided into three groups translated the storylines into actual land use changes and explored the impacts of the two scenarios. The study findings indicate that the geodesign process enabled participants to develop transformative plans that address housing needs while also promoting biodiversity and ecosystem services through nature-based solutions. Participants showed high perceived desirability of TC scenarios in Skarpnäck but were mostly sceptical regarding the plausibility and probability of future implementation. Changes in perceived plausibility, desirability and probability comparing before and after the geodesign process were minor, with some inter-group variation. We recommend practical applications of geodesign to strategically involve key stakeholders throughout study conceptualization, scenario development, and model generation for better consideration of context. Enhancing geodesign tools for userfriendliness is also crucial. We suggest geodesign research to focus more on understanding its impacts on participants as well as scaling up for addressing complex challenges in metropolitan and landscape planning.

Ecosystem services (ES) assessments are rarely integrated into decision-making processes, with uncertainties often cited as a major barrier. While various uncertainties, such as modelling and data uncertainties, are inherent in ES assessments, their role in uptake of ES assessment results in decision-making remains unclear. We conducted a semi-systematic literature review of scientific papers assessing ES to reveal how uncertainties in ES assessments relate to ES uptake, i.e., the potential use of ES assessment results by decision makers. We performed logistic regressions to analyse the influence of three main sources of uncertainty on ES uptake, i.e., (i) modelling uncertainties, (ii) uncertainties related to qualitative and quantitative descriptions of scenarios, and (iii) uncertainties related to the transfer of ES assessment results into decision-making. Furthermore, we investigated if stakeholder involvement plays a role in ES uptake. First, and most importantly, the results indicate that clarifying the policy context can decrease decision uncertainty and thus improve ES uptake. Referring to a specific policy, following a decisive study purpose and documenting the intended policy entry point are factors that significantly enhance ES uptake. Second, the way how ES are modelled is related to ES uptake. Our results show that using multiple models to assess ES significantly promotes ES uptake. Third, involving stakeholders in ES assessments is significantly associated with increased documented uptake. We discuss that explicitly anchoring the assessment in a policy context increases the salience and timeliness of an ES study, assessing model uncertainties can lead to more credible results, and involving stakeholders can provide more legitimacy, which together increase the potential for ES assessments and their results to be used in decision-making. This study encourages future ES assessments to integrate uncertainties in order to support informed decision-making and promote the conservation and sustainable management of ecosystems and their services.

Considerable pressure is placed on wind power in Sweden due to the country’s goal of generating 100 % of its electricity from fossil free resources. The aim was to develop the REWIND methodological framework to support wind power planning, built on spatial multi-criteria analysis (SMCA). In addition, the purpose was to develop a conflict score as a novel component of this framework, for handling goal conflicts. This framework includes the scoping, design and evaluation stages. It was applied in a case study of Västernorrland County with extensive involvement of stakeholders throughout the process. 

The conflict score allows a separate analysis of trade-offs between factors, highlighting potential conflicts across the landscape to increase transparency. Thus, users are allowed to decide on a threshold on how much conflict among factors should be allowed for areas to qualify as planning alternatives. Critical issues that will need further attention concern quality and availability of data, creation of representative spatial indicators for the factors, weighting methods, and uncertainty analysis. The REWIND framework is open-ended and allows for further development to provide planning support that gives more control of factors and conflicts to be acceptable in real-world planning. Capacity building involving stakeholders in the design of planning alternatives are crucial. In Sweden, it can promote a more proactive planning process in the municipalities, supported by the regional actors, leading to a more predictable permitting process for developers. This will be useful for inclusive wind power planning in any country, since it is applicable on different scales.

A transition to a sustainable energy system is urgent due to climate change, on global level and in Sweden. For this transition, wind power plays an important role. According to Swedens national strategy for wind power, the County Administrative Boards were suggested to, in close collaboration with the municipalities, derive expected shares of wind power in order to reach the goal of 100 TWh wind power to year 2040. Simultaneously, wind power can entail social and ecological impacts, among these landscape impacts, noise and flickering shadows, which can affect

residential areas, cultural values and recreation. Also reindeer husbandry can be affected. Ecological impacts can be habitat loss and fragmentation as well as collisions with birds and bats, impacting on biological diversity. Wind power development can also create jobs and thus contribute to local and regional economy. In order to develop useful planning support for wind power planning, the current planning practice and permitting process needs to be investigated concerning which aspects of sustainability that are taken into account, factors that are used, and trade-offs that are made between sustainability goals. In addition, planning support tools need to be developed, that can integrate different sustainability goals and work as a dialogue tool in the planning process. A methodology that can be useful in this context is Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis (SMCA). There are though several challenges associated with using SMCA in real-world planning contexts, where further method development and adaption is needed to increase its applicability. The overall aim of the project “Regional planning support for wind power” (REWIND) was to investigate wind power planning and methods for planning support, to find opportunities for development, where the regional level plays an greater role, providing competence, data, knowledge and coordination. In this way, suggestions can be made on how regional support for wind power planning can be developed to efficiently strengthen municipal planning, acceptance and sustainable regional growth. The project consisted of two interacting parts with a common  final discussion.

The goal for Part 1 in the project was to investigate the current planning practice and legislation through analysis of municipal policy documents and guiding judgements. Thus, we investigated which sustainability aspects and factors that were considered, with a special focus on the spatial dimension. As well, we investigated trade-offs between sustainability goals in planning and court cases. The goal for Part 2 in the project was to develop a methodological   framework for SMCA, as planning support for terrestrial wind power on regional and municipal level in Sweden. The project used a selection of existing methods from SMCA that were adapted and combined with new methods. These were integrated as parts of the REWIND tool, for increased applicability in the planning process. The method development concerned a) a GIS-based tool for more flexible creation and aggregation of the spatial indicators for the factors, b) a new method for weighing of factors, and c) a new method for conflict mapping. The REWIND tool was applied in two case studies in the counties Västernorrland and Västra Götaland, where the methods were tested in collaboration with selected actors.

Finally, Part 1 and 2 were integrated in a common discussion, together with a focus group interview with municipal officials. The interview concerned wind power planning and related sustainability perspectives as well as the possibilities of SMCA to strengthen regional and municipal planning and collaboration. The methodology included both qualitative and quantitative methods, in the form of literature reviews, interviews, focus group discussions, as well as case studies with application and method development of SMCA in dialogue with stakeholders. Scientific literature was reviewed targeting planning of wind power, its preconditions and effects on different sustainability targets, as well as methods and applications of SMCA in planning contexts. Swedish wind power plans and judgements were analysed, to understand which factors were involved and how they were treated, trade-offs between sustainability goals, and problems and opportunities for sustainable wind power planning. From the results, together with interviews for understanding significance and treatment of selected factors, such as the electricity grid, the REWIND framework was developed. It consists of a selection of existing SMCA methods together with new methods developed within the project; for deriving spatial indicators, weighing and conflict mapping. Method development and application was carried out with the help of the case studies in Västernorrland and Västra Götaland counties, including involvement of stakeholders through focus group discussions.

About two-thirds of the Swedish municipalities have  carried out some form of wind power planning, even if these to varying degrees have become outdated. We found that the main themes that are balanced against wind power in wind power plans and judgements are noise, landscapes, cultural environment, outdoor recreation, nature conservation, reindeer husbandry, and defence. Themes that appear to be especially difficult to handle are those that concern reindeer husbandry and defence, but also possibilities to connect to the electricity grid. There is a great variation within wind power planning concerning how the spatial analysis is organised, themes that are included and how they are treated, as well as trade-offs between wind power and other sustainability aspects. The analysis of judgements indicate that the comprehensive plan is often considered in the assessment of permit applications. Thus, more updated and well informed municipal plans would be a help as decision support also in the permitting process. Concerning SMCA, there are several challenges related to its integration in realworld planning contexts. Challenges that emerged through the focus group discussions were, among other, knowledge and data gaps, difficulties in identifying factors and their spatial indicators on different scales, standardisation of spatial indicators, weighing of factors and aggregation of their spatial indicators that to some extent can hide conflicts, and control of the weighing.

The REWIND framework consists of three steps, 1) scoping, 2) design of planning alternatives, and 3) evaluation. The GIS-based REWIND tool was developed to enable creation and change of spatial indicators for the factors. A relatively simple but systematic weighing method was developed, the Ranking-Rating (RR) method, which allows a transparent integration of the stakeholders input with the target to get weights that represent their view on the factors’ importance. In addition, the understanding of the meaning of the weights can increase through comparisons with the planning tree, which gives an instant overview of different dimensions of sustainability. A method for conflict mapping was also developed, in order to enable elimination of areas with high conflict between factors. These new methods were integrated in the REWIND framework.

The general overview of wind power planning that emerged in the study is, that  it can be difficult to handle the complex technical-economic, social and environmental challenges in municipal planning and decision making. Simultaneously, there is a need for a more continuous and proactive wind power planning. Possibilities to strengthen this could be financial support and through regional collaboration processes together with the municipalities, in order to strengthen their capacity for wind power planning. This could include a collaboration platform where municipal

initiatives and planning processes can interact with counties and regions, for knowledge building and exchange of experience. SMCA can be part of such a platform, as a useful tool for integration and trade-off of relevant knowledge and interests, in a systematic and transparent way. This could increase the possibilities to interact with the planning processes for the electricity grid, as well as facilitate knowledge and capacity building including dialogue with key actors of the defence interests, reindeer husbandry, and other. Such a collaboration platform could also strengthen the inter-municipal cooperation as well as the handling of areas of national interest and trade-offs between these. This can contribute to development of a more coordinated and sustainable wind power planning, with potential to, in the long run, form part of a more cohesive landscape planning and sustainable development of the energy system in Sweden.

Land use and land cover largely determine the ecosystem functions that can occur, where they occur, and the organisms that enable those. The composition and configuration patterns of land use and land cover will impact urban biodiversity; therefore how we recognize and understand those patterns is relevant towards planning to enhance biodiversity in urban ecosystems. This chapter addresses the past, present, and future of land use and land cover in urban areas by covering three main sections: The history of land use/land cover in urban areas, how biodiversity connects to land use/land cover under a landscape ecology framework, and how planning for sustainability and fulfilment of sustainable development goals can be done by addressing urban biodiversity at a landscape scale. Through concepts, examples, and tools, we expect readers to become immersed in the importance of land use/land cover configuration and composition for urban biodiversity and related ecological processes.

An ideal form of smart city planning would focus on the availability of urban amenities that can meet the basic needs of a resident's material life, civil connections, and humanistic spirit. Previous studies have concentrated on analyzing the spatial distribution of urban services, with less attention on their contribution as local urban amenities. In this study, we propose a spatial dynamic modeling approach based on urban amenities using social media data from Google Place API to provide locational information on potential resident interactions. We use a representative region in Europe (Stockholm County, SE) to simulate and project urban development in the region until 2050. Our circular conceptual framework of spatial information and feedback supports decision-makers in testing possible urban planning scenarios that align with the vision of a smart city. Simulation results reveal the interplay between human-land interactions on a specific spatial-temporal scale, and we analyze scenario outcomes in relation to commercial and residential land uses. Overall, our study provides a new perspective on human-social behavior-driven urban development, through a smart, spatial dynamic model as a planning support system that can enhance realism, and ultimately help realize planned development objectives in the region.

Background: Wind power is a critical renewable energy technology in efforts to achieve the global climate targets. However, local impacts do occur, which demands careful consideration in planning and permitting. Sweden has setan ambition to triple land-based wind power by 2040, and municipalities play a key role in both the planning and permitting process, due to a planning monopoly and veto power in the permitting process. This calls for an investigationof Swedish wind power governance, with a particular focus on recent trends in municipal wind power planning, how wind power is balanced in relation to sustainability objectives in planning and permitting, and insights frompractitioners regarding their capacities and drivers.

Results: The results show that about two-thirds of Swedish municipalities have conducted wind power planning in some form, but this basis for decision-making has become outdated due to a lack of institutional capacity at the municipal level. Secondly, the study finds that many municipalities perceive that there are insufficient incentives for a continued wind power expansion. Lastly, the study sheds light on a large heterogeneity within wind power planning practice concerning how trade-offs between wind power deployment and other sustainability aspects are handled, as well as a lack of coherence between planning and permitting.

Conclusions: It is concluded that the current state of municipal wind power planning raises questions regarding the legitimacy of municipal decision-making in terms of perceived justice among local inhabitants and highlights the need for updated wind power plans. Moreover, to promote local acceptance in the future, formalised financial compensation and strategic initiatives that enable the localisation of electricity-intensive industry within municipalities with large-scale wind power production can be two key components. The results also highlight the need for additional support at the municipal level, including access to critical competence and relevant knowledge to enable trade-offs between the different sustainability considerations in an informed and balanced manner. Finally, regional dialogue with key actors, such as the military, Sami representatives and grid operators, would facilitate the handling of inter-municipal issues, in particular by fostering co-operation regarding inter-municipal wind sites.

With the publication of the European Green Deal, the European Union has committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. The envisaged reductions of direct greenhouse gases emissions are seen as technically feasible, but if a wrong path is pursued, significant unintended impacts across borders, sectors, societies and ecosystems may follow. Without the insights gained from an impact assessment framework reaching beyond the techno-economic perspective, the pursuit of direct emission reductions may lead to counterproductive outcomes in the long run. We discuss the opportunities and challenges related to the creation and use of an integrated assessment framework built to inform the European Commission on the path to decarbonisation. The framework is peculiar in that it goes beyond existing ones in its scope, depth and cross-scale coverage, by use of numerous specialised models and case studies. We find challenges of consistency that can be overcome by linking modelling tools iteratively in some cases, harmonising modelling assumptions in others, comparing model outputs in others. We find the highest added value of the framework in additional insights it provides on the technical feasibility of decarbonisation pathways, on vulnerability aspects and on unintended environmental and health impacts on national and sub-national scale.

In the referenced article, Engström R, et al. (2018), the authors would like to report a calculation error. Correcting this error does not alter any of the overarching results or conclusions of the article, but changes the results in the original Table 3 and Figure 3. Two typographical errors were also found in the main article, and are corrected here. The supplementary material has also been updated to reflect these corrections.