A longitudinal assessment of action, collaboration and adaptation in strategic planning of urban green space

Urban green spaces (UGS) are increasingly recognised as central to sustainable and liveable cities. Despite the growing importance of urban green spaces (UGS) in fostering sustainable and liveable cities, systematic longitudinal and comparative analyses of UGS integration into strategic urban plans remain scarce. Drawing on established normative criteria for “good” strategic plans and evidence from practice, we propose an evaluation framework to assess three key dimensions of plan quality: action-oriented (C), collaborative (D) and adaptive (E). We apply the framework to three generations of strategic plans from 18 Romanian cities. 

Findings show a positive trend in the incorporation of UGS into successive plan iterations, with improvements suggesting growing awareness of the need for operationalisation of UGS goals. However, many plans articulate actions to create new or enhance existing UGS, but few allocate clear responsibilities or identify implementation pathways. On the collaborative dimension, stakeholder involvement and community engagement are still marginally addressed beyond formal consultation processes before plan adoption. While more recent plans increasingly acknowledge the need for cooperation across actors, most retain a formal approach with limited mechanisms for iterative engagement. The adaptive dimension shows more promising steep upward trajectories: newer plans more frequently acknowledge the need for capacity building and transdisciplinary approaches to UGS planning. Further, they increasingly document the learning process , feedback loops and revision provisions to respond to changing institutional, socio-economic or environmental conditions. Overall, our findings highlight that moving from vision to implementation for UGS in strategic spatial planning requires stronger emphasis on actionable pathways and actor-collaboration, while adaptive capacity appears to be advancing.

To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to use a longitudinal research design to systematically assess changes in the quality of strategic urban plans, with a particular focus on UGS. We discuss our framework and findings in the context of broader debates about the nature of strategic planning and the mainstreaming of environmental aspects into strategic plans.