Green factor for districts provides cities with a tool for adapting to climate change

The new green factor for districts is now openly available to municipalities, researchers, and practical planners. For the first time, the method makes the biodiversity of urban nature, climate benefits, and well-being effects visible with a single tool.

Elisa Lähde, Associate Professor at Aalto University, says that the aim of the method is to strengthen the view of cities as living ecosystems and to incorporate the ecological status of green infrastructure into planning.

The green factor was created as the result of an extensive ARVO collaboration project. The project is one of Finland's most extensive research projects on landscape architecture and urban nature. Its key themes have been adapting to climate change and halting the loss of nature in cities.

The project was carried out in collaboration with the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa, Aalto University, and Green Building Council Finland. The methods have been piloted in a total of 12 cities, and more than 130 experts have been involved in the collaboration.

Recommendations for municipalities to strengthen green infrastructure

At the ARVO project's final seminar also 10 recommendations were launched for strengthening green infrastructure. These include five recommendations for urban planning managers and five for municipal decision-makers.

The recommendations emphasize that green infrastructure should be taken into account at the early stages of planning, that expertise and resources should be invested in, and that green infrastructure should be included in strategies and impact assessments of decision-making.

The city pilots carried out within the ARVO project show that the use of the green factor for districts deepens cooperation between different sectors and provides concrete tools for assessing the state of urban nature. The method is considered useful both in guiding planning and in comparing different options. At the same time, the need for sufficient resources and expertise has been highlighted.

The recommendations for urban green infrastructure decision-making and management, as well as the Regional Green Factor 2025 method, have been developed specifically for growing municipalities whose urban planning is under pressure to indicate construction on local green areas or other natural areas. The recommendations can also be applied to strengthen green infrastructure in other municipalities.

Development work to implement the method in practice continues in cooperation between cities and researchers. The English version of the method will be publish in January 2026. 

Read more:

ARVO project