Revealing the value and feedback dynamics of green space co-design through causal loop diagrams
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Nguyen, Ngoc Thuy
Collins, Alexandra
Collins, CM Tilly
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Urban green spaces are vital for environmental sustainability and social equity, yet their co-design, a participatory approach to stakeholder collaboration, remains under-evaluated despite its rising global adoption. In a London, UK, case study, this study introduces a novel application of Causal Loop Diagrams (CLDs), a systems thinking tool, to unravel co-design’s benefits, barriers, and dynamics in urban green space planning. Through interviews (n = 23) and focus groups (n = 15), we identified 43 sub-themes across six overarching themes. CLDs, built from these themes, reveal the dynamic interactions and leverage points, showing social capital, community empowerment, and stakeholder capacity thriving through inclusive arrangements, local context, and trust, shaped by socio-economic, cultural, and organisational dynamics. The developed CLDs provide policymakers and practitioners with actionable indicators to enhance the effectiveness of co-design approaches. While focused on green spaces, the success factors, constraints, and system dynamics found in this study offer transferable insights across diverse collaborative domains.
Date Issued
2025-09-29
Date Acceptance
2025-08-26
Citation
npj Urban Sustainability, 2025, 5
ISSN
2661-8001
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
npj Urban Sustainability
Volume
5
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025, This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
10.1038/s42949-025-00266-0
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 76