Digitally Mediated Nature: Assessing the Role of Digital Tools in Employing Nature-Based Solutions to Urban Sustainability

Abstract

As digital technologies are increasingly using nature to address urban sustainability governance, we need to better understand how this affects human-nature relationships. Investigating seven pilot cities in an EU-funded Research and Innovation project, we critically examine the aims and implementation of digitally mediated nature in urban contexts. Drawing on interviews with stakeholders responsible for implementing solutions locally, we reveal the tensions involved in enrolling nature in pre-defined and expert-driven technological solutions. Our findings problematize the way the promotion of urban nature is funded by the EU and others, where requirements of technological readiness and quantification undermine more relational approaches to human-nature interconnections.