Table 4.
| Objective | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental | Biodiversity conservation | Actions on combating biodiversity loss by protecting and improving areas of high conservation value, restoring new areas of habitat, and improving connectivity between blue-green spaces (e.g., blue-green corridors) |
| Climate change adaptation and mitigation | Actions aiming to enhance urban ecosystems' resilience and functioning, e.g., flood management and coastal protection; implementation of NBS for improved urban water management | |
| Eco-health and environmental sustainability | Actions aiming to preserve ecological health, e.g., comprehensive restoration of aquatic ecosystems such as river renaturalization | |
| Water quality and supply | Actions on water purification and regulation such as water treatments (e.g., oxygenation, installation of wetlands), improvements of riparian vegetation, and the provision of water for agriculture and fishing | |
| Economic | Urban competitiveness and entrepreneurship | Actions focused on using the economic advantages of blue-green spaces for attracting global investment and skilled labor, promoting economic growth and shaping the city image (“urban prestige”) |
| Social | Health and wellbeing / quality of life (QOL) | Two approaches: I. Aesthetics and beautification: Using water as an aesthetic object to upgrade the physical environment and to provide pleasure in urban settings (e.g., installation of artificial ponds and fountains) II. Recreation and leisure: Provision of blue-green spaces for recreational and leisure opportunities, including blue spaces dedicated to specific sports such as swimming pools |
| Social hierarchy and relations | Creation and maintenance of (private) blue spaces for social positioning, i.e., to express and reinforce social hierarchies, but also as places to promote sociability and cultivate good social relations (e.g., event locations) | |
| Social reform and community-building | Reform-oriented city visions and actions targeting to reconnect and reconcile with nature in order to improve social welfare in the city | |
| Symbolism | Creation, preservation and staging of blue spaces for religious, spiritual and symbolic reasons, e.g., to provide places for contemplation, religious and spiritual practices, to serve as memorials, or to shape a collective identity |