24
proposed in planning instruments. Measures such as river re-naturalization, in most
cases, cannot be handled within the border of a city alone. However, urban plans
have the possibility to implement these interventions (at least for the urban sector of
rivers), as well as to promote coordination with other planning levels (e.g., regional
planning, river basin planning). Thus, these measures have been included in the
proposed classification of EbA measures relevant for urban areas.
3.2.2 Analysis of the Content of the Plans
As in Chap. 2, the content of the plans was divided into different components, which
represent thematically different parts of the plans. For climate adaptation plan, four
components were identified: information base; vision and objectives; actions;
implementation. The information base includes the analysis of current conditions
and future trends (typically presented in the introductory parts of the planning documents), which is performed in order to provide a basis for the subsequent development of the plan’s objectives and actions. Vision and objectives include the statement
of the ambition and of the general and specific objectives that a plan intends to
achieve. Actions include all the decisions, strategies and policies that the plan propose, in order to achieve its objectives. Finally, implementation refer to all measures
(including budget-related ones) proposed to ensure that actions are carried out.
Similarly to the previous Chapter, a direct content analysis was performed, by
reading all the documents associated to the selected plans and identifying – for each
of the four components - the content related to EbA measures, using the classification presented in Table 3.1. This approach was preferred to a keyword-based analysis, given that there is not yet a well-established terminology in this field, and plans
use a wide range of different wording to refer to concepts related to EbA and to ES
in general (Braat and de Groot 2012). Hence, we searched for the presence of the
different measures, irrespective of whether the plan used the term “EbA” or not to
describe them.
The content analysis followed a two-step process. First, the presence of the different EbA measures in each plan component was searched, by using the following
guiding questions:
– Information base: Does it contain data/statements/analyses that show awareness
about EbA?
– Vision and objectives: Are there objectives associated to the development/
enhancement of EbA measures?
– Actions: Are there actions aimed at developing/enhancing EbA measures?
– Implementation: Do the implementation provisions include reference to EbA
measures?
Second, whenever the answer to the previous questions was positive, the content
was further analysed in order to assess the extent to which EbA measures were
addressed, by using the four-level scoring system presented in Table 3.2. Finally, an
3 Reviewing Ecosystem Services in Urban Climate Adaptation Plans
proposed in planning instruments. Measures such as river re-naturalization, in most
cases, cannot be handled within the border of a city alone. However, urban plans
have the possibility to implement these interventions (at least for the urban sector of
rivers), as well as to promote coordination with other planning levels (e.g., regional
planning, river basin planning). Thus, these measures have been included in the
proposed classification of EbA measures relevant for urban areas.
3.2.2 Analysis of the Content of the Plans
As in Chap. 2, the content of the plans was divided into different components, which
represent thematically different parts of the plans. For climate adaptation plan, four
components were identified: information base; vision and objectives; actions;
implementation. The information base includes the analysis of current conditions
and future trends (typically presented in the introductory parts of the planning documents), which is performed in order to provide a basis for the subsequent development of the plan’s objectives and actions. Vision and objectives include the statement
of the ambition and of the general and specific objectives that a plan intends to
achieve. Actions include all the decisions, strategies and policies that the plan propose, in order to achieve its objectives. Finally, implementation refer to all measures
(including budget-related ones) proposed to ensure that actions are carried out.
Similarly to the previous Chapter, a direct content analysis was performed, by
reading all the documents associated to the selected plans and identifying – for each
of the four components - the content related to EbA measures, using the classification presented in Table 3.1. This approach was preferred to a keyword-based analysis, given that there is not yet a well-established terminology in this field, and plans
use a wide range of different wording to refer to concepts related to EbA and to ES
in general (Braat and de Groot 2012). Hence, we searched for the presence of the
different measures, irrespective of whether the plan used the term “EbA” or not to
describe them.
The content analysis followed a two-step process. First, the presence of the different EbA measures in each plan component was searched, by using the following
guiding questions:
– Information base: Does it contain data/statements/analyses that show awareness
about EbA?
– Vision and objectives: Are there objectives associated to the development/
enhancement of EbA measures?
– Actions: Are there actions aimed at developing/enhancing EbA measures?
– Implementation: Do the implementation provisions include reference to EbA
measures?
Second, whenever the answer to the previous questions was positive, the content
was further analysed in order to assess the extent to which EbA measures were
addressed, by using the four-level scoring system presented in Table 3.2. Finally, an
3 Reviewing Ecosystem Services in Urban Climate Adaptation Plans