Integrating nature-based solutions into urban planning and policies: learning from the Apulia case study

Much research has been done to evaluate the impacts of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) in spatial planning and management at the different scales and to show their positive effects. Main policy documents also mention the importance to adopt nature-based approaches in urban planning, built on circular economies, integration and multifunctionality. Nevertheless, when it comes to actual practices in urban planning and policies, approaches and solutions still mainly follow old traditional approaches. How to foster the uptake of NBS innovations in practice is thus a crucial question for urban planners. The paper aims at contributing to this discussion by investigating whether, to what extent and in what form NBS have succeeded in piercing in the Apulia region, where some recent policies have been trying to foster the uptake of such solutions first into urban regeneration projects and then into the broader urban planning sector. To this purpose the framework known as Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) has been applied to show the transition pathway undertaken in urban planning and policies in Apulia towards an NBS approach as well as the potential of different policy instrument mixes to support and give long-term perspectives to nature-based innovations while lowering resistance to their consolidation and diffusion.