Tradeoffs between environmental goals and urban development : The case of nitrogen load from the Stockholm county to the Baltic Sea

• Urban dwellers depend on the generation of ecosystem services for their welfare. The city of Stockholm is growing, and a 25% increase in population is projected by 2030. The effects of urban development were estimated through the quantification of nitrogen (N) leakage to the Baltic Sea under two urban development scenarios. We found that total net N load will increase by 6% or 8%, depending on which growth scenario is applied, and population increase by itself will contribute at least 15% of the point source N leakage. Technical improvements in sewage treatment could, according to our results, decrease total N load to the Baltic Sea by 4%. Based on our results, we conclude that proactive measures such as spatial urban planning can provide a constructive tool for sustainable urban development on regional as well as national and international scales, depending on geographical context as well as the ecosystem services' scale of operation. © Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2007.

Ämnesord

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Annan lantbruksvetenskap -- Miljö- och naturvårdsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Other Agricultural Sciences -- Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

nitrogen

ecosystem service

growth

leakage

point source pollution

trade-off

urban development

article

city planning

environment

human

methodology

policy

sea

sewage

Sweden

theoretical model

water pollutant

water pollution

wetland

Humans

Models

Theoretical

Oceans and Seas

Urban Renewal

Waste Disposal

Fluid

Water Pollutants

Chemical

Wetlands

Atlantic Ocean

Baltic Sea

Eurasia

Europe

Northern Europe

Scandinavia

Stockholm [Sweden]

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