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Kerry Bobbins, Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO), South Africa
Planning for the needs of both society and the environment is becoming more and more prevalent as the impacts of urbanisation, development and resource extraction influence the health of citizens and vulnerability of cities. From as early as the 1990s, knowledge on the benefits of ecosystem services (the services provided naturally by ecological systems and natural features such as trees, parks and open space) has encouraged the uptake of natural features in urban planning initiatives as a way to build urban centres that develop sustainably and are more resilient to the effects of natural disasters (Hansen et al., 2015). These studies have contributed to informing a growing discourse on ecosystem based management and how the impacts of rapid urbanisation and development can be curbed through using an ecosystem services based approach to infrastructure and service provision. As the scales (spatial and temporal) of ecological processes are not well aligned with existing monitoring and decision-making structures used at the local level, including ecosystem services into the planning and management processes of cities is a complex and challenging task (Haase et al., 2014).
Alluded to by Haase et al., (2014), referencing Knapp et al., (2008) and Nevens et al., (2013), the city is a laboratory – a place that is fertile with diversity from a variety of sectors such as cultural, social, spatial, temporal, institutional and biological – where ideas can be tested and piloted. While urban centres present a prime canvas for testing the opportunities and barriers to integrating the concept of ecosystem service based management into planning processes, this opportunity is rarely used. This is because the concept of ecosystem services cannot be easily defined and disseminated amongst institutional stakeholders and thus often fails to gain recognition or financing, despite its intrinsic benefits for society and the environment. The implementation of green agendas such as green infrastructure and green growth are also tightly wrapped up in a cloak of uncertainty, complexity and governance concerns. This has created a barrier to the testing and piloting of alternative planning and management strategies in the city laboratory. Due to the opaque understanding of nature, ecological systems are not being incorporated into existing planning structures.
Traditional planning structures thrive on surety, something that is difficult to achieve when including naturally complex systems into infrastructure plans and mandates. Therefore, to begin a process of impacting decision-making, the concept of ecosystem service based planning must leap from academia to practice (Hansen et al., 2015). To make this leap, shifts need to take place in existing planning paradigms towards more inter-disciplinary planning (ibid.). At this interface, the literary foundations on the use of ecosystem services in urban planning