Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This study examines citizen participation in EU Climate City Contracts through an environmental justice lens, analysing decision-making influence in nature-based solutions governance. Findings indicate predominantly procedural participation with limited development toward co-governance arrangements.

Paper long abstract

Green urban strategies, including nature-based solutions (NbS), are increasingly promoted as pathways to climate neutrality that can also support social inclusion and spatial justice within EU climate-neutral and smart city agendas (Beretta & Bracchi, 2023). Under the EU Mission: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, Climate City Contracts (CCCs) formalise local transition strategies and emphasise citizen participation (Doci et al., 2025). However, whether CCC participation enables meaningful decision-making influence and more inclusive urban transitions remains unclear (Kiss et al., 2022).

NbS research often frames these strategies as win-win solutions for climate mitigation, risk reduction, and urban attractiveness, while giving less attention to social and environmental justice. Alternative perspectives emphasise biodiversity protection and ecological integrity (Nóblega-Carriquiry et al., 2023; Wijsman&Berbés-Blázquez, 2022).

This study conducts a comparative, cross-sectional document analysis of CCCs from seven medium-sized European cities: Aarhus, Košice, Malmö, Parma, Thessaloniki, Turku, and Vitoria-Gasteiz. Two evaluative frameworks code and quantify policy documents across eight citizen participation dimensions (0–4 scale) and sixteen NbS inclusiveness dimensions (0–2 scale). Results reveal a strong, statistically significant correlation between direct citizen participation and inclusive NbS design (r = 0.78, p = 0.038), demonstrating their interdependence. However, a critical “procedural ceiling” emerges: horizontal coordination and institutional durability are maximised, while citizen resource influence remains limited and anti-displacement safeguards are severely underdeveloped. The findings challenge “just transition” rhetoric and show that transformative spatial justice requires redistributing material resource control. Policy measures, including climate-targeted participatory budgeting and socio-spatial affordability covenants, could address these resource and justice deficits in European climate governance.