Introducing Nature into Cities or Preserving Existing Peri-Urban Ecosystems? Analysis of Preferences in a Rapidly Urbanizing Catchment

This study analyses people’s perception of co-benefits and negative effects, and associated preferences for two different types of NbS for reducing flood risk (conserving peri-urban ecosystems from urban sprawl or by developing green infrastructure) at a catchment scale. The survey result show that people associate numerous co-benefits to NbS, but also negative effects. On average, respondents associate a positive additional value on NbS (compared to grey solutions) for the same level of flood risk management. However, the results also show that several factors influence this preference, including income, location of the respondent along an urban–rural gradient, and perception of the importance of ecosystem services.