Urban Resilience to Climate Change Through Nature-Based Solutions

Dear Colleagues,

According to World Bank data, 57.7% of the global population was urban dwellers in 2024 and it is expected that low and lower-middle-income regions will experience the fastest increase in urban population growth over the coming decades. Despite growing policy attention, a significant gap remains between the promotion of Nature-based Solutions and their effective, equitable implementation in rapidly urbanizing contexts in the Global South. The United Nations (https://sdgs.un.org/synergy-solutions-world-crisis-tackling-climate-and-sdg-action-together) concluded “the drive for sustainable cities presents a major challenge and opportunity to advance climate action at the city level, especially in the Global South.” Nature-based Solutions can play an important role in improving urban resilience to climate change, but actionable plans and project implementation must be evidence-based and holistically integrate decision-making by multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary stakeholders, with particular attention to power asymmetries and the inclusion of groups traditionally marginalized, such as low-income, informal populations, ethnic minorities and women. As such, the objectives of this Special Issue are fivefold:

1. Document protocols and procedures that can effectively quantify the social, ecological and climatic benefits and disbenefits of Nature-based Solutions in relation to urban climate change resilience.
2. Document and interpret existing policies for Nature-based Solutions implementation at local, national and international scales.
3. Investigate stakeholder perception and experience with Nature-based Solutions projects.
4. Integrate evidence on Nature-based Solutions benefits and disbenefits, policy analysis and stakeholder perceptions to develop practical, context-sensitive guidelines for enhancing urban climate resilience.
5. Explore the experiences of women, low-income groups, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities in accessing and benefiting from Nature-based Solutions in urban environments.

We invite empirical, conceptual and methodological contributions, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, comparative studies and systematic reviews. While we are particularly interested in highlighting Nature-based Solutions experiences in the Global South, we welcome contributions from the Global North that offer transferable lessons, comparative insights, or methodological innovations as a means of cross-fertilizing research ideas and approaches. In sum, the Special Issue aims to advance actionable, inclusive and policy-relevant knowledge to cross-fertilize research ideas and approaches.

Dr. Kim Neil Irvine
Dr. Lloyd Hock Chye Chua
Dr. Eun-Sung Chung
Dr. Danny Marks
Guest Editors

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