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- Berndtsson, Ronny, et al.
(author)
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Drivers of changing urban flood risk : A framework for action
- 2019
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In: Journal of Environmental Management. - : Elsevier. - 0301-4797 .- 1095-8630. ; 240, s. 47-56
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study focuses on drivers for changing urban flood risk. We suggest a framework for guiding climate change adaptation action concerning flood risk and manageability in cities. The identified key drivers of changing flood hazard and vulnerability are used to provide an overview of each driver's impact on flood risk and manageability at the city level. We find that identified drivers for urban flood risk can be grouped in three different priority areas with different time horizon. The first group has high impact but is manageable at city level. Typical drivers in this group are related to the physical environment such as decreasing permeability and unresponsive engineering. The second group of drivers is represented by public awareness and individual willingness to participate and urbanization and urban sprawl. These drivers may be important and are manageable for the cities and they involve both short-term and long-term measures. The third group of drivers is related to policy and long-term changes. This group is represented by economic growth and increasing values at risk, climate change, and increasing complexity of society. They have all high impact but low manageability. Managing these drivers needs to be done in a longer time perspective, e.g., by developing long-term policies and exchange of ideas.
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- Mottaghi, Misagh, et al.
(author)
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Blue-Green Playscapes : Exploring Children’s Places in Stormwater Spaces in Augustenborg, Malmö
- 2021
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In: Urban Planning. - : Cogitatio. - 2183-7635. ; 6:2, s. 175-188
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The urbanisation of cities increases the demands on, and complexity of, urban land use. Urban densification is challenging urban green space. Cities have responded to this challenge by adopting a multiple-use strategy where different functions share space. Shrinking open space has to contain solutions for everyday functions such as bicycle parking, waste sorting, blue-green stormwater systems, and playscapes. Values and functions that can reinforce and amplify each other are therefore of interest to study. The present article explores the possibilities for blue-green solutions (BGS) to be used as part of children’s playscapes. BGS are aboveground, ecological stormwater facilities, introduced to prevent flooding and support biodiversity while adding recreational and aesthetic qualities to the urban environment. The objective is to discuss the extent to which ecological and social values can reinforce each other in terms of encouraging children to engage with BGS natural elements. The researchers have studied the Augustenborg residential neighbourhood in Malmö. The area was primarily investigated through a postal survey, which identified a remodelled park with a floodable sunken lawn as a potentially attractive area for children’s activities. The park was analysed as a potential playscape and supported by on-site observations. The study shows that even if BGS largely meet children’s play values, due to existing socio-spatial structures, children are not using the offered play features. The article discusses the results in terms of how stormwater management may enhance the actualisation of play potentials in children’s everyday living environment.
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4. |
- Mottaghi, Misagh, et al.
(author)
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Blue-Green Solutions and Everyday Ethicalities : Affordances and Matters of Concern in Augustenborg, Malmö
- 2020
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In: Urban Planning. - : Cogitatio. - 2183-7635. ; 5:4, s. 132-142
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article aims to understand how the introduction of blue-green solutions affects ethical concerns and expectations of an urban environment. Blue-green solutions are complementary technical solutions, introduced into urban water management, in order to deal with the impact of urbanisation and climate change. These kinds of solutions establish new affordances that have an impact on everyday life in the urban environment. This article describes how blue-green solutions become part of urban settings and how they influence the inhabitant’s perceptions, desires and matters of care concerning these settings. The article examines the interplay between blue-green technologies and the social, material and cultural context in the Augustenborg district in Malmö, Sweden. The study is based on the analysis of free-text answers to a questionnaire aimed to collect information about the interaction between blue-green solutions and everyday life in public spaces. By exploring the inhabitants’ point of view, the article then seeks to recognise the meanings and thoughts entangled with place concerning different types of blue-green solutions. We summarise the main concerns raised by the inhabitants and discuss how the implementation of blue-green solutions relates to the transformation of everyday ethicalities and matters of concern relating to the neighbourhood. We conclude that blue-green infrastructure seems to come with a new kind of sensitivity, as well as with an intensification of concerns, in an existing urban environment. This has important social repercussions, which also makes it important to study the social role and implications of blue-green technologies further.
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5. |
- Mottaghi, Misagh
(author)
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CARESCAPE OF BLUE-GREEN SOLUTIONS IN EVERYDAY LIFE : Exploring the socio-materiality of a landscape technology
- 2023
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This research explores how blue-green solutions (BGS) take part in various everyday situations in the Augustenborg neighborhood of Malmö, Sweden, where BGS were introduced over twenty years ago to control urban flooding. The research applies a relational perspective, looking at everyday life as something that is contextually formed and given meaning in relation to the socio-materiality of the environment. The thesis employs a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach to answer: What aspects seem to matter in an environment with BGS, and how are they spatially situated in everyday life? How can the co-effects of BGS as technical artifacts be studied in relation to their temporality? How can everyday users’ expectations and concerns be considered in the design process of BGS? The research argues that the concept of resilience is inadequate in responding to the evolving challenges of urban areas, as situations before and after flooding are never the same. Instead, the thesis emphasizes the necessity of these environments to be responsive to the diverse needs of everyday life situations, including flooding. The study avoids looking at BGS as isolated artifacts in the urban landscape and, inspired by both actor-network theory (ANT) and affordance theory, it tries to explain the relationships between people and BGS through the lens of matters of concern and care. In this work, the interaction between blue-green infrastructure and society is understood from an urban design perspective and, as a spatiotemporal study of matters of care, the obtained knowledge also adds to science and technology studies (STS). The study shows a connection between the affordances in the environment and the accumulation of concerns developed over time. The link establishes complex relations in everyday life and influences various aspects of the socio-materiality of the environment. The results also show that the performances and possibilities of the environment are different and do not necessarily convert to one other. However, they are interrelated, and their interaction is temporal and contextual, and this affects the use of the BGS. The thesis argues that utilizing the perspective of care can help to acknowledge overlooked entities in the development of blue-green infrastructure. The thesis confirms that despite generating potential conflicts of interest, BGS can largely facilitate cohabitation between human and nonhuman creatures. This requires extra care and consideration in design to enhance the co-benefits and plays an important role in making the environment responsive to the ecological and social aspects of urban open space. In addition, the thesis highlights the importance of evaluating and refining typologies and conventional design methods for environments with BGS, and the need for continuous evaluation and adaptation of the space to maximize its response to the users.
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6. |
- Mottaghi, Misagh, et al.
(author)
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Caring for Blue-Green Solutions (BGS) in Everyday Life: An Investigation of Recreational Use, Neighborhood Preferences and Willingness to Pay in Augustenborg, Malmö
- 2023
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In: Land. - : MDPI AG. - 2073-445X. ; 12:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this article, we explore the production of socio-cultural values around blue-green solutions (BGS) through the perspective of care. We explore how values and preferences are formed through the complexity of everyday life engagements in a BGS environment. The data come from a questionnaire answered by 328 households in the neighborhood of Augustenborg in Malmö, Sweden. The questionnaire collects detailed information about inhabitants’ possible recreational use (through Likert scale questions) and willingness to pay (WTP) (estimated through contingent valuation). The study evaluates if and how people care to use, care to live with, and care to pay for BGS. The result shows that people in Augustenborg relate in different and sometimes contradictory ways to BGS. A well-used BGS environment does not per se make the environment successful or result in people preferring a BGS environment in the future. Building awareness about BGS seems to increase the willingness to pay, whereas recreational use seems to decrease it. The study reveals a landscape of care that is constantly being formed and transformed. This suggests that both planning and research needs to focus more on the relation between BGS and social use over time.
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7. |
- Mottaghi, Misagh, et al.
(author)
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Integrated urban design and open storm drainage in our urban environments : Merging drainage techniques into our city’s urban spaces
- 2016
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In: Water Practice & Technology. - : IWA Publishing. - 1751-231X. ; 11:1, s. 118-126
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Flooding is the most common natural hazard in Europe. Cities cannot rely only on underground solutions which are expensive and inflexible. In order to reduce the negative impacts of flood, open and surface solutions play a key role in the efficiency of urban drainage systems. Utilizing the earth’s surface as part of sustainable water infrastructure, also as powerful element for creating the space, adds multiple values to our urban environments. This article suggests a framework to increase the likelihood of turning the idea of flood resilient city to a best practice. The paper is clarifying the design principles. The target is turning a space to a functional place by applying drainage techniques in urban design, which requires robust local integration between the urban space and technical solutions. The study of storm water management in the Swedish and Dutch contexts was an important base for this formulation. Considering the important share of urban design in urban transition success, the paper is focusing on categorizing the required steps of flood resilient urban design.
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8. |
- Sörensen, Johanna, et al.
(author)
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Re-thinking urban flood management – time for a regime shift
- 2016
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In: Water. - : MDPI AG. - 2073-4441. ; 8:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Urban flooding is of growing concern due to increasing densification of urban areas, changes in land use, and climate change. The traditional engineering approach to flooding is designing single-purpose drainage systems, dams, and levees. These methods, however, are known to increase the long-term flood risk and harm the riverine ecosystems in urban as well as rural areas. In the present paper, we depart from resilience theory and suggest a concept to improve urban flood resilience. We identify areas where contemporary challenges call for improved collaborative urban flood management. The concept emphasizes resiliency and achieved synergy between increased capacity to handle stormwater runoff and improved experiential and functional quality of the urban environments. We identify research needs as well as experiments for improved sustainable and resilient stormwater management namely, flexibility of stormwater systems, energy use reduction, efficient land use, priority of transport and socioeconomic nexus, climate change impact, securing critical infrastructure, and resolving questions regarding responsibilities.
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