Understanding, communicating, and imagining urban biodiversity in German and Italian cities

Authors: Alessandro Arlati, Dr. Melanie Nagel

Urban biodiversity has recently emerged as a key focus in urban planning discourse and is the cornerstone of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030. This strategy proposes ambitious urban greening plans for cities with over 20,000 inhabitants to address urban biodiversity holistically. In their way of developing urban biodiversity-based imaginaries, future uncertainties, complex terminology, and data attainability hinder the efforts of small to large cities in addressing urban biodiversity satisfactorily. Based on comparative case studies of Heidelberg, Hanover, Cesena, and Florence, we developed explorative research that uses sources from urban, social, and political science methods to investigate the complexity of urban biodiversity between past experiences, present discourses, and future imaginaries. By analysing policy documents, urban actors’ discourses, and the physical manifestation of the UGPs in these four cities, we argue that size does not matter. Instead, cultural and communication gaps should be addressed behind an underdeveloped and superficial public debate.

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https://www.nature.com/articles/s44168-025-00249-y