Green Empowerment: Citizens’ Willingness to Contribute to the Nature Restoration Law’s Implementation in Urban Areas

Fulfilling the requirements of the EU’s Nature Restoration Law in urban areas will require not only planning and administrative action but also citizen engagement. The paper at hand analyzes citizens’ willingness to change the urban environment in a study consisting of a pan-European survey with an integrated choice experiment. The majority of the 7045 respondents would support a rapid urban greening process and are willing to contribute to its financing. The latent class analysis reveals four different classes with different interests and willingness to engage: Class 1 supports the development of green areas and nature-based solutions in general and under nearly any conditions; Class 2 is sensitive to costs and accessibility disruption. For Class 3, participation will increase their interest and willingness to pay. Only Class 4 (8.6% of sample respondents) is against or disinterested in the development of urban greening. The findings demonstrate that the European goals are strongly supported by the majority of urban residents and highlight a significant interest in their implementation, to which they are also willing to contribute. These findings should encourage local initiatives and the local administration to implement the process of urban greening and the goals of the nature restauration law in a more ambitious manner.