Abstract Body

Being confronted with increasing and expanding urbanization and the loss of natural green spaces, our living environment is threatened more and more by the effects of global climate change. Cities and municipalities will play a pivotal role in responding to climate change, specifically with regard to climate adaptation. Nature-based solutions and green infrastructure could contribute to climate adaptation goals, while simultaneously delivering a wide range of co-benefits to society. In this study a discrete choice experiment was conducted with local decision makers in Flemish municipalities to reveal crucial factors in the decision process of green infrastructure projects. Flanders counts as one of the most densely built regions in Europe, stressing the urgency to understand local spatial decision factors to guarantee green space. 568 decision makers active in the local administration in 235 Flemish municipalities (78%) participated in the choice experiment. The sample includes individuals with political mandates (mayors, aldermen, councillors) and non-politically appointed functions (e.g. CEOs, financial directors, environmental and sustainability officers). The choice design is composed of 10 unforced choice sets, existing of two choice alternatives for a hypothetical neighbourhood park and a status-quo option. Every choice alternative exists of five attributes: investment cost, maintenance cost, deferred investment, recreational value and climate impact. [SVP1] Results indicate that local governments’ decisions on green infrastructure are highly cost-driven and rarely consider the full range of benefits. Moreover, economic benefits of green infrastructure are seldomly included as a decision criterion. Further, results indicate that reducing the uncertainty of greening projects’ impact would highly benefit the chances of increased uptake in later decision stages. The results can be used to inform higher authorities on the pathways to facilitate investments in green space and overcoming barriers towards informed decision-making.