Summary
This paper examines the treatment of soil and soil ecosystem services in contemporary urban planning through analysis of seven major city sustainability plans and a decade of case study research. The authors find that whilst urban plans nominally recognise soil as a key resource, implementation and monitoring phases typically lack soil-specific indicators and fail to operationalise soil science knowledge. The work identifies critical barriers to interdisciplinary integration and argues for accessible frameworks that enable meaningful dialogue between soil scientists and urban planners.
UK applicability
Given the UK's extensive urban areas and emerging focus on nature-based solutions and sustainable urban development, this framework would be directly applicable to UK local authority planning and sustainability strategies. The findings suggest that existing UK urban plans may similarly underspecify soil monitoring and management, presenting opportunities to strengthen soil considerations in revised planning guidance and implementation frameworks.
Key measures
Text-mining and qualitative analysis of urban plans; inventory of soil ecosystem service indicators used in case studies; assessment of integration and monitoring mechanisms in implementation phases
Outcomes reported
The study analysed seven urban sustainability plans and a decade of soil ecosystem service case studies to assess how soil knowledge is incorporated into urban planning. It measured the presence and operationalisation of soil-related concepts, ecosystem service indicators, and monitoring mechanisms across these plans and case studies.
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