Towards Holistic, Multifunctional and Sustainable Stormwater Management: making Sense of Criteria, Indicators, and Evidence for Stormwater Decisions in Existing Urban Areas

Zhengdong Sun

doi:10.54612/a.41rulj0q20

Towards Holistic, Multifunctional and Sustainable Stormwater Management: making Sense of Criteria, Indicators, and Evidence for Stormwater Decisions in Existing Urban Areas

Bidragets översatta titel: Mot en holistisk, multifunktionell och hållbar dagvattenhantering: att skapa förståelse för kriterier, indikatorer och evidens i dagvattenbeslut i befintliga urbana områden

Zhengdong Sun

Institutionen för landskapsarkitektur, planering och förvaltning

Publikation: Avhandling › Doktorsavhandling

10 Nedladdningar

Sammanfattning

Städer ställer om mot en holistisk, multifunktionell och hållbar dagvattenhantering (SSWM) och förlitar sig i ökande grad på naturbaserade lösningar (NbS) som fördröjer, leder, infiltrerar och renar vatten samtidigt som de bidrar till ekologisk kvalitet, samhällsnytta och klimatanpassning. Eftersom NbS är rumsligt utspridda och institutionellt delade beror deras långsiktiga leverans inte bara på hydrologisk prestanda utan också på styrningsarrangemang, inklusive ansvar, mandat, ägande och underhåll, som formar legitimitet och utfall. Kritiska utmaningar uppstår tidigt, när mål översätts till kriterier, indikatorer och evidens som kan motiveras och användas i planering och genomförande. Denna avhandling undersöker detta beslutsskede genom en sekventiell mixedmethods-design. Den följer hur styrning och andra långsiktiga leveransvillkor (1) representeras i globala beslutstödsverktyg, (2) formuleras av praktiker som avgörande faktorer i två svenska städer och (3) operationaliseras som kontextförankrade indikatorformuleringar i två kontrasterande avrinningsområden. Resultaten visar en bestående asymmetri: teknisk evidens görs ofta beslutsmogen, medan styrnings- och kontextkänsliga villkor förblir under-specificerade, trots att de är centrala för att uppnå holistisk, multifunktionell SSWM. Avhandlingen bemöter detta genom att tillämpa ett styrningsmedvetet sensemaking-steg som gör dessa ”tysta” villkor och deras bedömbarhet explicita. Tillvägagångssättet ger en transparent grund för motivering i tidiga skeden och för att prioritera vilken evidens som finns tillgänglig nu, vad som kräver resurssättning och vad som kräver samordning eller förändrade mandat. Genom att överbrygga teknisk evidens med institutionell genomförbarhet i tidig bedömning stödjer arbetet mer försvarbara beslut och en mer kalibrerad beslutstrygghet för SSWM i befintliga urbana miljöer.

Bidragets översatta titel	Mot en holistisk, multifunktionell och hållbar dagvattenhantering: att skapa förståelse för kriterier, indikatorer och evidens i dagvattenbeslut i befintliga urbana områden
Originalspråk	Engelska
Kvalifikation	Doktor i filosofi
Förlag	Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Tryckta ISBN	978-91-8124-209-6
Elektroniska ISBN	978-91-8124-229-4
DOI	https://doi.org/10.54612/a.41rulj0q20
Status	Publicerad - 2026

FN:s SDG:er

Detta resultat bidrar till följande hållbara utvecklingsmål:

SDG 11 – Hållbara städer och samhällen

Nyckelord

Decision support
Decision-making
Governance-aware assessment
Holistic
Indicators and criteria
Multifunctionality
Nature-based solutions
Sustainability
Sustainability assessment
Sustainable stormwater management

SLU-serie

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae

Åtkomst av dokument

10.54612/a.41rulj0q20

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title = "Towards Holistic, Multifunctional and Sustainable Stormwater Management: making Sense of Criteria, Indicators, and Evidence for Stormwater Decisions in Existing Urban Areas",

abstract = "Cities are shifting toward holistic, multifunctional, and sustainable stormwater management (SSWM), increasingly relying on nature-based solutions (NbS) that retain, convey, infiltrate, and treat water while delivering ecological quality, public value, and climate resilience. Given that NbS are spatially distributed and institutionally shared, their long-term delivery depends not only on hydrological performance but also on governance arrangements, including responsibilities, mandates, ownership, and maintenance, that shape legitimacy and outcomes. Critical challenges arise early, when goals are translated into criteria, indicators, and evidence that can be justified and used in planning and implementation.This thesis examines that decision space through a sequential mixed-methods design. It traces how governance and other long-term delivery conditions are (1) represented in global decision-support tools, (2) articulated by practitioners as decisive factors in two Swedish cities, and (3) operationalized as context-anchored indicator prompts in two contrasting catchments. The findings reveal a persistent asymmetry: technical evidence is often rendered decision-ready, whereas governance and context-sensitive conditions remain under-specified, even though they are central to achieving holistic, multifunctional SSWM.The thesis responds by applying a governance-aware sense-making step that makes these “silent” conditions and their assessability explicit. This approach provides a transparent basis for early-stage justification and for prioritizing what evidence is available now, what requires resourcing, and what demands coordination or mandate changes. By bridging technical evidence with institutional feasibility in early-stage assessment, the work supports more defensible decisions and more calibrated decision confidence for SSWM in existing urban areas.",

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author = "Zhengdong Sun",

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