Szeged - NbS for urban regeneration and adaptation to climate change

The assessment of direct impacts is based on the personal observations of city administration employees as official monitoring is limited. Based on their findings, it seems that various age groups spend much more time (together) in the green areas than before. Also, it was concluded that the investments (and extensive public talks and stakeholder engagement) have benefited residents in other ways too – they started to think in terms of sustainability when it came to reconstruction work, even on their own homes. Additional impacts are assumed as nature-based solutions lead to: richer biodiversity and more stable ecosystems and their services because of increased and rehabilitated green areas; better air quality because of reduced traffic, more cycle paths and more green infrastructure; and reduced run-offs and improved soil quality because of decreased sealed areas, water permeable coverage and vegetated areas. 

NbS Project 1: Green area rehabilitation and increase in green infrastructure

Building and rehabilitating green infrastructure can lead to more connectivity, biodiversity and ecosystem services, and improved air quality with higher CO2 absorption. The extended vegetation-enhanced water retention can improve evapotranspiration and mitigation of floods and extreme precipitation. More developed green infrastructure with cycling and walking opportunities can also lead to reduced public and personal vehicle use and thus decrease greenhouse gas emissions. This in turn can improve mental and physical health and reduce the health impacts and costs of the heat island effect. More green areas facilitate joint usage of public spaces by various age and social groups, improving social interactions and decreasing social tension.

Vegetated public transport routes (grass planted between tram tracks) and extended cycle and walking paths increase urban greenery, improve urban quality of life, increase opportunities for enhancing habitats and biodiversity, reduce the use of energy, including by cars, which leads to better air quality and reduces greenhouse gases. More recreational opportunities provided by the cycling and walking paths support a more active lifestyle and increase joint use of public spaces and social interaction between various social and age groups, which may improve citizen health and social inclusion.

Using adaptive multilevel vegetation makes urban areas greener, improves urban quality of life and living conditions and increases biodiversity and ecosystem services. It also provides shade and mitigates urban heat island effect and enhances evapotranspiration, as well as contributing to the mitigation of extreme weather events (floods, heavy rainfall).

NbS project 2: Urban gardening                                                                        

Urban gardening can create community awareness and support interaction between various social and age groups, as gardens are often jointly managed by residents. It helps people improve their physical and mental health by giving them an opportunity to spend time outside and grow their own food. Urban gardening can also increase urban biodiversity.

The city administration incorporates nature-based solutions in many of its new development projects. In addition, the FP7 GreenSurge project has contributed to the city’s actions in this area by raising awareness of nature-based solutions and research opportunities among staff members.

There is an emphasis on stakeholder participation and on incorporating differing opinions in solutions that are acceptable to everyone involved. During planning procedures, there is much interest from housing estates to participate in debates (there is less interest to take part in such forums in the city centre). Frequent forums are held at the planning and implementation stages, giving local residents the opportunity to express their opinions. There is also close cooperation with civil organisations. According to city officials, one of the key difficulties is addressing all the various wishes, as often even similar organisations and groups have different opinions (e.g. different civil organisations wanting different coverage of running paths; cyclists preferring concrete cycle paths instead of natural vegetation opposing environmental NGOs; conflicts between residents who want urban allotments to be built on public facilities and resistance from neighbours affected by the shade; young people preferring sports facilities and older generations flowers and greenery).

The city authority drives the rejuvenation of various housing estate areas, with mostly elderly residents. It ensures that facilities for children (e.g. playgrounds) and young people (e.g. sports tracks) are planned and developed to make the areas more attractive for younger generations and to boost related development and investment. Certain developments (e.g. terrace creation for restaurants and pubs, terraces and windows overlooking green areas) can result in even short-term economic boosts, by attracting more guests and gradually ensuring a higher-quality experience.

Key success factors include the dedication of city leaders and specific financial sources. These are complemented by tailored trainings for city officials on green area development from the perspective of climate change, organised by Szeged University and a national NGO that deals with energy and climate change issues.

The key limiting factor is the challenge of dealing with the complexity of public spaces with a myriad of views to take into account. Financing sources are key determinants and it is important to note that the concept and details of green area development are not sufficiently outlined in funding documents. Also, in spite of the fact that the current operational programmes have well-articulated principles and objectives, in practice the application process for funding sources is very difficult, more time-consuming and bureaucratic than under the previous programme. Management and maintenance are not financed through EU projects, only the creation of new areas is, therefore these costs have to be integrated in the limited city budget.

The main driver of these changes was to create a more pleasant city, as envisioned and supported by the city’s leadership. Sustainability also remains an important factor, especially in terms of design and maintenance of green areas (e.g. when selecting vegetation, mostly tree species, it is important that the fruit and flowers are easy to remove and that the species are adaptive to climatic changes and local conditions). One of the key drivers was financing sources and the fact that green investments are included in operational programme calls. The residents also expressed their need to have more green areas. Specific requests vary according to age (e.g. older people prefer more flowery vegetation and green areas, whereas younger generations request more recreational areas such as sports fields, playgrounds and dog training places).

There is no monitoring in place, mostly due to lack of financing and lack of sufficient capacity. Studies carried out by Szeged University on vegetation and local climate are used for decision making at local level.

Participation in the FP7 project Green Surge helped to increase awareness, as well as to exchange experiences with other EU countries. Partly due to Green Surge, Szeged currently participates in a Horizon 2020 project, Nature4Cities, and would like to participate in similar opportunities in the future. Within Nature4Cities, Szeged participates in developing a common methodology for nature-based solutions, which is helping it understand how to include more such solutions in future projects and developments.