A stakeholder engagement framework for value creation of urban nature-based public space developments

There is an ongoing debate regarding the best strategies for establishing and enhancing sustainable development goals. Definitions of sustainable development highlight the importance of long-term durability, and the value of society, economy, and environment. As sustainability issues increase in public and academic discourse, Nature-based Public Spaces (NPS) are becoming a sought-after solution for urban landscapes. NPS are publicly accessible spaces that address environmental challenges through natural processes and structures. Despite the heightened recognition given to nature-based practices within the built environment industry, concepts and metrics specifically designed for development practices does not match these efforts.

The literature reveals that there are multiple benefits of NPS across all components of sustainability, and value creation (the process of decision-making in which select stakeholders decide to prioritise select values for all other stakeholders) realises these benefits (or disbenefits). However, it is evident that the priority is monetary valuation. Several sectors, including construction, now recognise wider aspects of value, such as social values, but again the tendency is to monetise this capital. Studies relating to the potential effect stakeholders have on value creation through strategies to accomplish sustainability over project lifecycles, remains a gap in knowledge. This research therefore investigates how stakeholder engagement for NPS can enhance sustainability in urban landscapes. The aim is to develop a stakeholder engagement framework that enables a novel dynamic approach to sustainability value creation in the development of Nature-based Public Spaces. Four objectives assist in achieving this aim: 1) critically reviewing the role and limitations of NPS for achieving economic, environmental, and societal sustainability in urban development; 2) analysing the adequacy of theories and evaluative methods supporting stakeholder engagement, for achieving NPS sustainable goals; 3) developing a stakeholder engagement framework with valuation strategies specific to sustainability-led NPS; and 4) testing and further developing the stakeholder engagement framework through an empirical case study.

Methodologically, the research uses a subjective ontology of multiple realities and an interpretivist epistemology, interpreting reality through participants’ unique insights into everyday practices. Primary data from practitioners and an NPS case study, combined with literature findings, provides the basis of the novel Stakeholder Engagement framework for Nature-based Public Spaces (SENPS). Thematic analysis of participants’ feedback identifies a need for additional valuation methods. Theoretical concepts, particularly Actor Network Theory and a transformative Power Matrix, enable users to utilise the framework for mapping organisational, human, and nonhuman stakeholders, as well as impacts of sustainable goals.

A key finding is that value pluralism (the coexistence of multiple value systems) shapes the process of value creation. In this thesis the multiple value systems are intrinsic values, the inherent characteristics or requirements for stakeholders; relational values, the values that form from the relationship between stakeholders; and instrumental values, values that are a means to an end. SENPS represents the values of sustainability by presenting environmental, economic, and social actants within the same stakeholder engagement mapping. The outcome indicates that mapping the engagement of multiple stakeholders over the lifetime of a project can enhance life-cycle durability, through the inclusion of nonhuman actants. SENPS provides a mechanism that goes beyond defining NPS benefits and allows for the process of tangible and comparable evaluative assessments for stakeholders, promoting holistic value interpretation of NPS delivery.