# Nature-Based Solutions in Urban Areas: A European Analysis
## 2 Sustainability in the Built Environment
### Nature-Based Solutions in the Built Environment  
Around the world, NbS have been developed and are being implemented to respond to current challenges and improve the quality of urbanized areas and, consequently, human health and well-being [26]. For example, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, NbS have been shown to provide additional health benefits, providing both physical and mental relief [39]. As a result, there has been an increase in green roof initiatives, aiding biodiversity and the expansion of urban agriculture [40]. Therefore, designing and building nature-based restorative spaces emerges as a potential response [35] in resolving public health crises [40; 41]. In its annual publication, the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) reported on the global progress of the construction and building sector towards meeting international goals with respect to climate change. According to the 2021 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction, in 2020, the construction and operation of buildings \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt} p{113.8 pt}} \hline \hline
**Sectors and Areas** & **NbS Options** & **NbS Benefits** & **Climate Impacts** \\ \hline Urban Areas & Urban parks, forests, and street trees & & \\ Green buildings & Coiling air temperature & & \\ Renaturing of abandoned areas and opportunity plots & Regulation of water runoff & & \\  & NbS for water management (bioswales, & Improvement of noise quality and & \\  & Retention ponds, and rainwater & comfort & \\ Urban Areas & harvesting) & Biodiversity & Floods \\  & NbS for transport infrastructure & Carbon sequestration & Heat stress \\  & (greening of streets and previous & Regeneration of degraded areas & \\  & pavement and greening infrastructure) & Recreation and aesthetic appreciation & \\  & Regenerated soil & Increasing the value of land and property & \\  & Pollinator biodiversity & Health and quality of life & \\  & Environmental compensation & & \\ \hline Coastal Areas & Rehabilitation and restoration of coastal & Reduction in coastal flooding & \\  & habitats & Stabilization of the coast & Sea level rise \\  & Beach regeneration, barrier islands, and beach nourishment & Carbon sequestration & \\  & Hybrid solutions (green dykes and & Regeneration of degraded areas & Coastal erosion \\  & vegetated levees) & Recreation & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: _Cont._were responsible for 37% of global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO\({}_{2}\)) emissions, in addition to the sector's energy consumption, representing approximately 36% of global demand [42]. The document also indicates that if the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is excluded (due to the decrease in economic activity in the period under analysis), the level of decarbonization in 2020 was only 40% of the 2050 reference path to reach the targets set out in the Paris Agreement [42]. For an alignment with the SDGs, the construction and building sector must incorporate concepts related to the CE in order to decrease the demand for building materials and reduce embodied carbon, in addition to the adoption of NbS that improve the resilience of the construction industry [43]. The use of NbS can be understood as an essential urban planning tool for cities to increase their resilience in response to climate change. In particular, in urban areas, multifunctionality makes these actions references for cities to achieve the transition from a linear to circular model, as NbS offers several benefits with respect to the main challenges highlighted in urban circularity: restoring and maintaining the water cycle (by rainwater management); water and waste treatment, recovery, and reuse; nutrient recovery and reuse; material recovery and reuse; food and biomass production; energy efficiency and recovery; and building system recovery [44].