Green infrastructures for urban water system

Green infrastructures for urban water system: Balance between cities and nature

Sitzenfrei, Robert (University of Innsbruck)
Kleidorfer, Manfred (University of Innsbruck)
Bach, Peter M. (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology)
Kuzniecow Bacchin, T. (TU Delft Urban Design)

2020

Urban water systems face severe challenges such as urbanisation, population growth and climate change. Traditional technical solutions, i.e., pipe-based, grey infrastructure, have a single purpose and are proven to be unsustainable compared to multi-purpose nature-based solutions. Green Infrastructure encompasses on-site stormwater management practices, which, in contrast to the centralised grey infrastructure, are often decentralised. Technologies such as green roofs, walls, trees, infiltration trenches, wetlands, rainwater harvesting and permeable pavements exhibit multi-functionality. They are capable of reducing stormwater runoff, retaining stormwater in the landscape, preserving the natural water balance, enhancing local climate resilience and also delivering ecological, social and community services. Creating multi-functional, multiple-benefit systems, however, also warrants multidisciplinary approaches involving landscape architects, urban planners, engineers and more to successfully create a balance between cities and nature. This Special Issue aims to bridge this multidisciplinary research gap by collecting recent challenges and opportunities from on-site systems up to the watershed scale.

Ecosystem services
Environmental benefits
Performance assessment
Water policy

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9533a3f4-ccf9-4792-aabd-78e7a8d11f14

https://doi.org/10.3390/w12051456

2073-4441

Water, 12 (5)

Institutional Repository

contribution to periodical

© 2020 Robert Sitzenfrei, Manfred Kleidorfer, Peter M. Bach, T. Kuzniecow Bacchin