Nature-Based Solutions and Smart Cities

The idea of smart cities is becoming increasingly popular. Technology alone, however, is not sufficient for addressing the challenges that modern cities face. Pressures stemming from pollution, stress, and changing environmental conditions can ruin the lives of city dwellers, putting enormous pressure on public finance to address or mitigate consequences of the issues. Application of Nature-based Solutions could address multiple societal and environmental issues common to modern cities. Furthermore, the solutions can immensely benefit from integration with modern technologies. In fact, modern technologies can enhance the implementation, monitoring, and scalability of Nature-based Solutions. This makes a strong case for the application of Nature-based Solutions in modern urban environments that aspire to promote technology and become smart cities. Integration of the solutions into smart cities, however, is not a trivial task and requires a holistic approach to city planning and deep understanding of the ways to do so. Justification of the associated costs requires thorough understanding of the benefits, including the values that may be easily overlooked. Thus, in this study, we apply a conceptual research approach to explore how Nature-based Solutions can be integrated into Smart Cities, what are key benefits of the approach, and how this integration can address significant challenges in urban environments.