Societal challenges highlight the need for a green urban transformation, where Nature-based Solutions (NBS) play a crucial role. Despite their potential, the integration of NBS into spatial planning remains a significant challenge. This study examines the factors influencing NBS adoption in spatial planning in the Stockholm region, Sweden. Using a two-step mixed methodology, the research combines quantitative analysis of NBS-relevant terms in municipal comprehensive plans (CPs) from 26 municipalities and two regional plans, followed by focus group discussions with planning officials from five municipalities. The findings reveal significant variation in the integration of NBS in the CPs and their practical application, with notable barriers related to political, socioeconomic, and local contexts. Key challenges for planning interventions involving extended NBS include inadequate legislation, limited resources, lack of political will, and insufficient inter-institutional collaboration. In conclusion, despite strong advocacy for NBS integration, the lack of systematic and structural support hinders a transformative shift in Swedish planning towards a broader NBS framework.

This study examines the application of the Integrated Landscape Character Assessment (ILCA) within the Strategic Choice of Measures (SCM) process in land use and transport planning through the lens of the transformative capacity framework. By applying this framework, the study identifies key elements of transformative capacity in the planning process. Notably, ILCA contributes to transformative capacity by fostering a systems perspective that strengthens the understanding of spatial interconnections, multi-functionality, and ecosystem services. This, in turn, supports planners in addressing complex sustainability challenges and enhances their ability to implement integrated and forward-looking planning strategies. Furthermore, the integration of ILCA into the SCM process contributed to transformative capacity by enabling knowledge co-production through inclusive stakeholder engagement. By involving actors from multiple governance levels, NGOs, and private sector representatives in working groups and workshops, the process fostered mutual learning, built shared understanding, and aligned diverse perspectives. This collaborative approach not only strengthened legitimacy but also supported the formulation and justification of measures aligned with sustainability goals, such as promoting cycling and walking infrastructure and implementing nature-based solutions (NBS), thereby enhancing both procedural and substantive dimensions of transformation.

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.

A GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) is presented to evaluate the suitability of land for the implementation of nature-based solutions (NbS) to enhance carbon sequestration in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Excessive carbon emissions into the atmosphere have caused rapid and profound climate change that needs to be mitigated. The use of NbS has emerged as an effective strategy to sequester atmospheric carbon and improve environmental resilience. This study focuses on identifying the best NbS to maximise carbon sequestration for three environmental zones: urban, peri-urban and agricultural. The analysis identifies optimal locations for three area-specific NbS: street trees, green spaces and buffer strips. The region was divided into 30 × 30 m grid pixels, with each grid cell assigned a value from 1 (least suitable) to 5 (most suitable). The results show that most of the high-quality pixels are located near the main urban centres and along the coastline. These results provide useful information for policy makers and urban planners who can be guided in the strategic implementation of NbS to achieve maximum environmental benefits. The work also includes an individual sensitivity analysis to validate the robustness of the proposed model and a quantitative estimate of the carbon that can be sequestered by these NbS.

The quest for sustainable urban development requires innovative planning approaches more apt to cater for transformative action. Based on a case study approach, this study aims to explore the potential for local planning to develop practical approaches able to accelerate the transition towards sustainable urban development. To guide spatial development towards sustainability, the analysis of the results shows that local planners need to envision a process design as to advance the understanding of how a site or area can be developed. The act of process design involves pending between processes of contextualization (i.e. exploring five distinguishable domains of planning inquiry) and concretization (i.e. deciding upon a course of action by executing activities that form a process trajectory). Regarding the potential of local planning to develop transformative approaches, it is concluded that: (i) local planners possess capabilities that allow them to probe the future of places and produce insights about prospective change, (ii) the transformative capacity of local planning practices is bound to the development of the identified domains of planning inquiry and (iii) forthcoming evaluations organized around the act of process design can reveal insights regarding the possibilities to put the notion of sustainability into practice at the local level.

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, at least three key interrelated challenges exist for spatial planning to support this transformation: creating unconventional plans, accounting for the complex trade-offs and interactions of different scenarios, and facilitating participatory procedures. A promising approach for addressing the challenges is Geodesign as it couples spatial co-design with impact simulations. This paper aims to explore how, and with what effects, geodesign can support the co-creation of transformative urban plans. A geodesign process was developed and deployed for a case study neighborhood in Stockholm, Sweden. Fourteen planning stakeholders divided into three groups developed and explored the impacts of two alternative futures. 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 but were mostly skeptical regarding the plausibility and probability of future implementation. The study findings also confirmed that Geodesign may provide effective planning support for managing ‘boundaries’ between knowledge holders, by integrating data and knowledge, and facilitating effective stakeholder collaboration. All geodesign steps enhanced communication by promoting discussions and collective reasoning, albeit to different degrees. Participants acknowledged contributions to knowledge co-production and decision-making by mediating between different perspectives and opinions. Data quality was identified as critically affecting perceived credibility. Reservations were expressed regarding the translation function. We recommend practical applications of geodesign to strategically involve key stakeholders throughout study conceptualization, scenario development, and model generation for better context consideration. Enhancing geodesign tools for user-friendliness is also crucial. Research should focus on scaling up collaborative geodesign for complex challenges in metropolitan and landscape planning.

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.

Drawing on examples from the Nordic countries, this article aims to explore the practical application of strategic policy and planning instruments and approaches that facilitate the integration of land use and transport planning and promote sustainable policy measures through collaboration among stakeholders across various governance levels. This research applies a qualitative research design including literature research, interviews, and workshops involving practitioners from the five Nordic countries. In this paper, we present an overview of the planning structure in the Nordic countries, including institutions that govern land use and transport planning. We identify different approaches to bridge the gap between land use and transport planning, such as the Finger Plan in Denmark, MAL in Finland, Concept Studies in Norway, and Strategic Choice of Measures in Sweden. Many of the examples employ informal collaborative approaches among authorities to form a shared vision and seek consensus on a combination of policy measures and actions. The paper examines collaborative approaches in relation to regulatory planning and discusses the role of these processes in advancing integrated land use and transport planning and fostering sustainable urban development.

Planning with nature-based solutions (NBS) has the potential to foster sustainable urban transformation, but a key requirement remains the meaningful inclusion of various legitimate interests in the planning process. Geodesign has been proposed as an effective approach for boundary management, i.e. a process that seeks to overcome real or perceived 'boundaries' between stakeholders and knowledge holders. However, there is little empirical evidence behind this claim, especially in relation to local planning with NBS for ambitious urban transformations. This study aims to i) develop and test a geodesign process to facilitate collaboration and co-creation between stakeholders involved in planning sustainable urban transformation with NBS and ii) explore the potential of geodesign for boundary management to increase the credibility, salience and legitimacy of the process. The Skarpnäck district in Stockholm, Sweden, was chosen as a case study, given the increasing demand for housing and ambitious regional and municipal targets for biodiversity and social cohesion. We applied a six-step geodesign process, including a two-day digital and interactive workshop with stakeholders. Step 1 involves jointly defining the context and understanding the challenges of the study area. Step 2 involves the development of two scenarios with different transformation ambitions, i.e. a 'Current Scenario' aligned to the Stockholm Plan and a 'Transformative NBS Scenario' that promotes greater adoption of NBS. The next steps, i.e. suitability analysis (step 3), land-use change (step 4), impact assessment (step 5), and reflections (step 6) are covered during the two-day digital and interactive workshop, using touch-tables and a specially prepared GIS interface with CommunityViz 5.2. The results of a pilot workshop suggest that geodesign has helped facilitate boundary management, but that technological limitations can be a challenge. We provide the full results of the workshop and reflect on the main lessons learnt, also suggesting promising avenues for further research.