A planning-support tool for spatial suitability assessment of green urban stormwater infrastructure

Martijn Kuller,Peter M Bach,Simon Roberts,Dale Browne,Ana Deletic

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.051

Martijn Kuller, Peter M Bach + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.051

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Abstract

Distributed green stormwater management infrastructure is increasingly applied worldwide to counter the negative impacts of urbanisation and climate change, while providing a range of benefits related to ecosystem services. They are known as Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) in Australia, Nature Based Solutions (NBS) in Europe, Low Impact Development (LID) in the USA, and Sponge City systems in China. Urban planning for WSUD has been ad-hoc, lacking strategy and resulting in sub-optimal outcomes. The purpose of this study is to help improve strategic WSUD planning and placement through the development of a Planning Support System. This paper presents the development of Spatial Suitability ANalysis TOol (SSANTO), a rapid GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis tool using a flexible mix of techniques to map suitability for WSUD assets across urban areas. SSANTO applies a novel WSUD suitability framework, which conceptualises spatial suitability for WSUD implementation from two perspectives: ‘Needs’ and ‘Opportunities’ for WSUD. It combines biophysical as well as socio-economic, planning and governance criteria (‘Opportunities’) with criteria relating to ecosystem services (‘Needs’). Testing SSANTO through comparing its results to work done by a WSUD consultancy successfully verified its algorithms and demonstrated its capability to reflect and potentially enhance the outcomes of planning processes. Manual GIS based suitability analysis is time and resource intensive. Through its rapid suitability analysis, SSANTO facilitates iterative spatial analysis for exploration of scenarios and stakeholder preferences. It thus facilitates collaborative planning and deeper understanding of the relationship between diverse and complex urban contexts and urban planning outcomes for WSUD.

Highlights

Distributed green stormwater control measures are increasingly applied in cities around the world
We focus on the following objectives: (a) Operationalising a novel and comprehensive Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) suitability framework proposed by Kuller et al (2017), which identifies two sides of suitability: WSUD needs a place and a place needs WSUD
This can be considered rapid compared to manual Geographical Information Systems (GIS)-Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) exercises which can take days or even weeks to complete

Summary

Introduction

Distributed green stormwater control measures are increasingly applied in cities around the world They are primarily designed to protect surface water quality, mitigate flood risk and increase resilience of urban drainage systems in response to the challenges posed by urbanisation and climate change. The application of planning support systems (PSS) may significantly improve WSUD planning outcomes through their capacity to combine, analyse and present diverse spatial information in a format that is meaningful to stakeholders (Geertman and Stillwell, 2012; Klosterman, 1997). They can be used to promote collaborative planning and strategic decision-making. Perhaps the most significant cause of these shortcomings is a lack of engagement between PSS developers and the planning practice

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