Air pollution affects the environment negatively, boosts climate change, and is the cause of millions of deaths per year, first and foremost affecting the people living in urban areas. Since the early 20th century, many cities have been planned around cars, which are the main contributors to the bad air quality. However, after the Covid-19 pandemic, cities have been reshaped to enhance active travel and to provide more space for greenery. In London, this reassessment of the urban areas has led to the Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs). The LTNs origins from 2019, however, most of them were implemented during the pandemic because of the crucial times demanding social distance, while also enabling people to walk and cycle more in their local borough. The LTNs only allow residents, emergency vehicles and blue badge carriers to enter, if travelling by a motorised vehicle. The scheme further aims for more greenery to be implemented. The aim of this thesis is to study the impact from the LTNs on the air quality of the local area, specifically regarding PM10 and NOX, by using openly available data from the Imperial College London. Furthermore, the existing Green Infrastructure (GI) around each sensor, as well as the traffic, has been studied and compared to the air pollutant levels. This has been done to be able to analyse the air pollutants in relation to the surrounding GI and the level of traffic. The methodology further consists of mapping the air pollutants measured by the sensors; a statistical analysis; an interview with Sally Oldfield, the Nature Conservation Manager at Islington Ecology Centre; and field studies to the sensors used in the thesis, both the ones in LTNs and the ones in non-LTNs. The boroughs included in the study are the City of London, Islington, Wandsworth, and Westminster.  Previous research about the LTNs have focused on health and social issues, and the research about traffic schemes have focused on Low Emission Zones (LEZ) and Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ). Studies on the air quality impact of the Covid-19 lockdowns have been done on New York, Madrid and Barcelona. The previous research on air pollutants in urban areas show a difficulty in mapping the movement of the pollutants hence the varied variables having an impact, such as wind, weather, the height and positions of the surrounding buildings. Research on the impact on the air quality from GI in general, has shown that the efficiency is dependent on the planning, type and size of the vegetation, as well as the distance to the emission source. However, the studies on GI are uncertain in how effective it is in terms of air quality improvement.  The result of this thesis shows a decline in NOX- and PM10-values after the implementation of the LTN by all sensors. The annual patterns further show that the yearly trends of the pollutants remained, however the magnitude is lower after the implementation of the LTNs. The daily patterns show varied results, where NOX has clear connections to the traffic, and the sources of PM10 are uncertain. Lastly, the statistical analysis showed that the data series came from different distributions, except the PM10-values by one of the sensors in Islington. Although a reduction was seen by all sensors, this might be because of, e.g., the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, a correlation between GI and lower values of the pollutants could be seen by some sensors, however the results varied, making it difficult to distinguish any correlation. In conclusion, the absence of traffic can be seen to reduce the air pollutants NOX and PM10, where GI might have a positive impact. Suggesting to reshape urban areas to enable active travel, and reduce the possibilities to travel by car, with the exception of blue badge carriers and emergency vehicles. Although the impact on air improvement from GI is uncertain, it is suggested to be incorporated in the planning due to its other benefits such as recreation, well- being, and biodiversity.

Urban stormwater management is necessary to protect human life and society from the dangers and damages associated with flooding from extreme weather events. Conventional measures of stormwater management utilise grey infrastructure to convey runoff away from urban areas, but due to increasing urbanization, aging of urban infrastructure, climatic variability, and flooding due to extreme weather events, these measures are often no longer sufficient. On the other hand, sustainable stormwater management systems, such as nature-based solutions, involve working with ecosystems in order to improve resilience and adaptability in a changing climate, while simultaneously providing other benefits to biodiversity, pollution control, and human health.  While academic interest in sustainable systems, and the transition from conventional measures in urban areas, is growing, there remains significant uncertainty surrounding the maintenance of these systems. To investigate the maintenance requirements, how it impacts the transition, and how to reduce this uncertainty, a comprehensive literature review was undertaken, analysing 70 texts on the subjects of urban stormwater management, nature-based solutions, and maintenance.  The findings indicate a variety in terminology and concepts used to describe sustainable systems, causing confusion, and resulting in fragmentation of the body of knowledge of them. Data on maintenance activities, frequencies, and costs for both conventional and sustainable systems were compiled. Major barriers discovered include unclear management responsibilities, lack of expertise, misconceptions regarding maintenance demands, uncertainty in long-term costs and performance, and a lack of policy and governance instruments.  Collaboration and education will be vital to expanding the transition to sustainable stormwater management. Incorporating maintenance and stakeholder involvement throughout the planning process will reduce the uncertainty involved in the implementation of nature-based solutions. Large-scale and in- depth monitoring and reporting programs will provide evidence in performance and lifespan and reduce uncertainty further. Educating decision-makers and the public alike on the efficacy and benefits of nature- based solutions will lead to wider acceptance. Strong regulatory and governance frameworks will foster widespread uptake, encouraging the transition from conventional to sustainable urban stormwater management. / Stads vattenhantering är nödvändigt för att skydda människors liv och samhällen från de faror och skador som är förknippade med översvämningar från extrema väderhändelser. Konventionella åtgärder för dagvattenhantering använder grå infrastruktur för att föra bort avrinning från stadsområden, men det finns allt fler bevis för att dessa åtgärder inte längre är tillräckliga. Däremot innebär hållbara dagvattenhantering system, såsom naturbaserade lösningar, att arbeta med ekosystem för att förbättra motståndskraft och anpassningsförmåga i ett föränderligt klimat, samtidigt som det ger andra fördelar för biologisk mångfald, föroreningskontroll och människors hälsa.  Medan det akademiska intresset för hållbara system och övergången från konventionella åtgärder i stadsområden växer, finns det fortfarande betydande osäkerhet kring underhållet av dessa system. För att undersöka underhållskraven, hur det påverkar övergången och hur man kan minska denna osäkerhet, genomfördes en omfattande litteraturgenomgång som analyserade 70 texter om hantering av dagvatten i städerna, naturbaserade lösningar och underhåll.  Fynden indikerar en variation av terminologi och begrepp som används för att beskriva hållbara system, vilket orsakar förvirring och resulterar i en delad brist på kunskap. Data om underhållsaktiviteter, frekvenser och kostnader för både konventionella och hållbara system sammanställdes. Stora hinder som upptäckts inkluderar otydliga ledningsansvar, bristande expertis, missuppfattningar om underhållskrav, osäkerhet i långsiktiga kostnader och prestanda samt brist på policy- och styrinstrument.  Samarbete och utbildning kommer att vara avgörande för att utöka omställningen till hållbar dagvattenhantering. Att inkludera underhåll och engagemang från intressenter under hela planeringsprocessen kommer att minska osäkerheten i implementeringen av naturbaserade lösningar. Storskaliga och djupgående övervaknings- och rapporteringsprogram kommer att ge bevis för prestanda och livslängd samt minska osäkerheten ytterligare. Att utbilda såväl beslutsfattare som allmänheten om effektiviteten och fördelarna med naturbaserade lösningar kommer att leda till en bredare acceptans. Starka ramar för regelverk och styrning kommer att främja en bred spridning, och uppmuntra övergången från konventionell till hållbar hantering av dagvatten i städerna.

Green space fragmentation is one reason for the failing ecological networks around our planet. It has been argued that the driving force behind the loss of natural habitats by fragmentation is urban development. This essay aims to look at the subject of green space fragmentation in Uppsala municipality and how it affects both humans and roe deer living in the area. This essay will also explore how the efforts to stop wildlife-vehicle collisions impact roe deer’s ability to roam through the area divided thanks to human induced green space fragmentation. This has been done by using a descriptive quantitative analysis combined with a connectivity model, the least-cost approach. Remote sensing was used to collect the data used for the analysis. The results of this essay indicated that green space fragmentation impacts both humans and roe deer in Uppsala municipality since the wildlife-vehicle collisions can be traced to spots where the roe deer are forced to cross the road because of green space fragmentation. The introduced form of wildlife crossing structures, wildlife fences, does not help minimize the effects of the fragmentation, instead it steers the animals into certain points where the collisions occur. To truly minimize the consequences of human induced green space fragmentation, green infrastructure needs to be taken into account whenever planning future developments.

Climate change is projected to increase the intensity and frequency of storm events that would increase flooding hazards. Urbanization associated with land use and land cover change has altered hydrological cycles by increasing stormwater runoff, reducing baseflow and increasing flooding hazards. Combined urbanization and climate change impacts on long-term riparian flooding during future growth are likely to affect more socially vulnerable populations. Growth strategies and green infrastructure are critical planning interventions for minimizing urbanization impacts and mitigating flooding hazards. Within the social-ecological systems planning framework, this empirical research evaluated the effects of planning interventions (infill development and stormwater detention) through a risk assessment in three studies. First, a climate sensitivity study using SWAT modeling was conducted for building a long-term flooding hazard index (HI) and determining climate change impact scenarios. A Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) was constructed using socio-economic variables and statistical methods. Subsequently, the long-term climate change-induced flooding risk index (RI) was formulated by multiplying HI and SoVI. Second, growth strategies in four future growth scenarios developed through the BMA ULTRA-ex project were evaluated through land use change input in SWAT modeling and under climate change impact scenarios for the effects on the risk indices. Third, detention under climate sensitivity study using SWAT modeling was investigated in relation to long-term flooding hazard indices. The results illustrated that increasing temperature decreases HI while increasing precipitation change and land use change would increase HI. In addition, there is a relationship between climate change and growth scenarios which illustrates a potential threshold when the impacts from land use and land cover change diminished under the High impact climate change scenario. Moreover, spatial analysis revealed no correlation between HI and SoVI in their current conditions. Nevertheless, the Current Trends scenario has planned to allocate more people living in the long-term climate change-induced flooding risk hotspots. Finally, the results of using 3% of the watershed area currently available for detention in the model revealed that a projected range of 0 to 8% watershed area would be required to mitigate climate change-induced flooding hazards to the current climate conditions. This research has demonstrated the value of using empirical study on a local scale in order to understand the place-based and watershed-specific flooding risks under linked social-ecological dynamics. The outcomes of evaluating planning interventions are critical to inform policy-makers and practitioners for setting climate change parameters in seeking innovations in planning policy and practices through a transdisciplinary participatory planning process. Subsequently, communities are able to set priorities for allocating resources in order to enhance people's livelihoods and invest in green infrastructure for building communities toward resilience and sustainability

The implementation of grass tracks is uncommon in Stockholm compared to Central Europe where it is more popularized. As more tram projects are planned in the future such as the Spårväg Syd project, the aim of this study is to explore the role of grass tracks in the public transport sector by theoretically conceptualising grass tracks as a green infrastructure strategy. The research questions were to study how residents perceive the grass track between Sicka Udde and Sickla Station, and how the grass track could contribute to noise concerns, traffic safety, and financial resource in the Spårväg Syd project. Qualitative methods were used in which online surveys were sent out to residents in Hammarby Sjöstad and interviews with the municipality and county workers from Lund, Norrköping and Stockholm were conducted. The result showed that the resident was more positive about the grass track compared to the municipality and county workers which highlighted the additional cost and work effort to provide the public with a well-maintained and visually attractive grass track. The conclusion of this study has covered previous and new discoveries which open discussions for further reflection on what project planners shall consider before deciding to implement grass tracks in future tram projects.

Gothenburg, Sweden's second-largest city, faces significant environmental challenges due to climate change and risks from rising sea levels. These challenges include eutrophication, spread of environmental toxins, invasive species, and habitat loss. Gothenburg needs more transformative responses, shifting towards adopting water environment changes rather than against it, a concept gaining global traction. This project goaling to making a climate-responsive urban planning to save Gothenburg from lost in economy, ecology, and residents' well-being due to sea level rise. The city is transitioning from a self-centered development approach to one that emphasizes functional ecosystems. This shift includes implementing a multi-scale network of blue-green infrastructures by four methods which are: 1) Improve urban water system; 2) Constructed wetland; 3) Build green road network; 4) Create shore parks for residents. These infrastructures not only maintain the city's water supply system but also create water buffer wetlands, dynamic dykes, and flood bypasses enhancing water environment control. They use low-impact ecological methods for urban runoff regulation and provide ecological and recreational spaces along city-center riverbanks, achieving efficient land use in density city center.

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