Developing urban tourism in green infrastructure

Urban tourism depends on the place specific qualities of destinations. In many cities, climate change poses a threat to these qualities, through increasing risk of excessive heat, draught and flooding. Cities need to adapt to reduce these risks. One way of doing this is to improve their green infrastructure. Urban forests, parks, rivers and wetlands may help reduce the effects of climate change in cities.
At the same time, green infrastructure provide a variety of ecosystem services to the community. In particular, cultural ecosystem services such as recreation, and esthetical values take place in urban green infrastructure; they provide value in the form of improved experiences. These mainly benefit the locals but they may also be important for tourism. Such relations between ecosystem services and tourism have in earlier literature been recognized in rural contexts but very seldom in urban.
This paper reports preliminary findings from qualitative case studies in Malmö, Lund, and Helsingborg in the South of Sweden. They focus on how urban planning projects (primarily aimed at mitigating GHG emissions and adapting to climate change) can be extended to develop places where experience values for both residents and visitors are created alongside other kinds of ecosystem services.
We suggest that the need for climate change adaptation in a city may be used as a means to improve its place specific qualities as a tourist destination. By developing green infrastructure in innovative and environmentally friendly ways, the quality of ecosystem services improves, including those relevant for both visitors and residents. Protecting and building green infrastructure, thereby enhancing a city´s visible qualities and its reputation as a sustainable destination, may also be valuable in marketing the city.