Ten years of experience with ecological connectivity analysis and urban planning in Sweden

ABSTRACT

The use of quantitative analysis and related metrics has traditionally been unusual for assessment of ecological impacts in urban planning. Since 2010, however, quantitative modelling has been increasingly used in such contexts in Sweden to analyze ecological connectivity. The study reviews and analyses 21 connectivity analysis reports (CAR) based on 17 criteria. Despite the use of quantitative analysis, CARs primarily leverage qualitative aspects of modelling results. Most CARs comply with about 50% of the proposed criteria and close to 90% of the reports fail to address some issues related to modelling transparency and therefore jeopardize an adequate ecological interpretation of the results. The results demonstrate that the primary accomplishment during the last decade is an increase in awareness and acceptance of ecological connectivity among practitioners and decisionmakers. Results point to that an increased use of quantitative methods per se will not deliver more sustainable outcomes, and that an increased use of quantitative methods for ecological impact assessment in urban planning needs to be accompanied by guidelines, standards, and a continuous science – practice knowledge exchange.

KEYWORDS:

• Connectivity
• EIA
• physical planning
• urban planning
• spatial ecological models
• decision support

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Tyréns Group for data availability and support in conducting this study, and Ö.B. acknowledges support from the Swedish Research Council Formas through grant 2020-01551.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Box 1. The development of the software MatrixGreen

Box 2. The role of a CAR in the Swedish planning process