The integration of green infrastructure into the urban environment has been recognised as an important tool in urban planning for balancing the ever-increasing urban densification of cities. Urban green infrastructure is seen as a nature-based solution that can support climate change adaptation and climate resilience. When planned and implemented correctly, green infrastructure can also provide many other benefits for society. In order to yield such benefits, however, green infrastructure should be part of overall planning from the very beginning, and collaboration with a range of stakeholders is needed throughout the lifetime of the project, especially through the planning stage but also in the later phases.
The B.Green project aims to develop a model for digital and participatory urban planning that promotes the pre-planning of multifunctional green infrastructure solutions in the Baltic Sea region. The project has piloted green solutions with residents and experts in Helsinki and Tallinn. The aim of this handbook is to guide urban planners and other stakeholders interested in promoting green infrastructure planning. It introduces digital and participatory tools as solutions that can help planners overcome some of the major challenges when planning green infrastructure. These tools are presented holistically in the context of the planning process. These tools and accompanying processes have been developed by the two capital cities – Helsinki and Tallinn – in the B.Green project. These are supplemented with experiences from various cities in the Central Baltic region.
The handbook is set up to provide multiple topics as entry points: climate resilience, planning challenges, digital tools, participatory methods and planning phases. There is also a section on additional resources highlighted throughout the handbook. Each section contains basic information linking the specific topic with the issue of the planning of green infrastructure in an urban context. The challenges presented have been identified in the scientific literature and experienced in the two pilot cities. The case studies and examples highlight the specific processes, methods and tools that have been used successfully across the different phases.
The handbook should be thought of as a digital journey. Each handbook topic can be used as a starting point that connects to the examples, as well as to the other topics.
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