![Sample our Environment & Sustainability journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5935/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Environment-Sustainability.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
An increasing number of real estate actors appear to be searching for ways to incorporate nature and biodiversity in urban development projects. In this article, we study three Dutch urban development projects with high biodiversity ambitions in order to learn how they came to fruition. We combine transition theory with practice theory and identify key barriers and drivers on the basis of these approaches. We highlight that incorporating biodiversity in urban development projects requires considerable knowledge development, implies a higher entrepreneurial risk and asks for various pragmatic solutions to overcome barriers. We identify four key recommendations for promoting nature-inclusive urban development: (1) facilitate knowledge development and exchange; (2) incorporate and reward biodiversity in environmental certification schemes and tender criteria; (3) translate a strategic vision on biodiversity into concrete regulations to bridge the policy implementation gap; (4) stimulate the uptake of nature-inclusive urban development in corporate visions.
GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Acknowledgments
We want to thank Sabine van Rooij and Eveliene Steingröver for their contributions to data collection and analysis. We also want to thank our respondents for their important contributions to our work and for their comments on draft versions of this article and the four anonymous peer reviewers for their critique which helped us to improve our article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Thomas J.M. Mattijssen
Thomas J.M. Mattijssen (m) works as a researcher and project leader at Wageningen Economic Research. He holds an MSc in Forest and Nature Conservation and a PhD in Environmental Governance. His work focuses on the interfaces between humans and their natural environment, including perceptions and views about the environment; interactions between humans and their environment in practices; and governance and policy interventions to promote urban greening, biodiversity and human wellbeing.
Marijke W.C. Dijkshoorn-Dekker
Marijke W.C. Dijkshoorn-Dekker (f) is a senior researcher and project leader at Wageningen Economic Research in the field of agriculture, food and greenery in an urban and rural environment. Within the framework of metropolitan solutions, she focuses on urban and rural transitions towards more (bottom-up) involvement of stakeholders in (knowledge) innovation systems, knowledge valorisation, transfer and management, transition process, education and lifelong learning. She holds a PhD in production ecology and resource conservation.
Harry J.M. Kortstee
Harry Kortstee (m) works as a researcher and project leader at Wageningen Economic Research. He has an MAB in Agricultural Business. His work focuses on the issues between agriculture and society and the interaction between them in order to achieve a socially supported agricultural environment with perspective.
Nico B.P. Polman
Nico B.P. Polman (m) works as a senior scientist at Wageningen Economic Research. His work focuses on institutional economics, scaling and governance, as well as the impact of agriculture on rural land use, including aspects related to water economics, regional development and rural policy.
Robbert Snep
Robbert P.H. Snep (m) works as a senior researcher at Wageningen Environmental Research. His work focuses on innovative research and practice in the fields of green, sustainable cities and business & biodiversity. He cooperates with urban development professionals, multinationals, NGOs and governments in e.g. urban ecology & ecosystem services, corporate social responsibility, and green business.