Green Infrastructure as Water Sensitive Urban Design Strategy in the Era of Climate Change

Abstract

The world is struggling against extreme droughts, heavy rain, and heat waves because of climate change. These abnormal climate cause urban flood, urban heat island, and water pollution and shortage and these natural disasters not only threaten citizen’s health and amenity but also negatively affect cities economically, environmentally, and socially. Thus, this paper discusses about green infrastructure as the water sensitive urban design strategy in terms of sustainable stormwater management in the era of climate change. To do this, this paper reviews concept, context, and current trends of green infrastructure as water sensitive urban design strategy and this paper examines relations between green infrastructure and sustainable stormwater management. And then this paper analyzes various case studies on green infrastructure as water sensitive urban design strategy for sustainable stromwater management, which are categorized by city-scale's case studies such as Kallang River Bishan Park and Tanner Springs Park, site and building-scale's case studies such as Mount Tabor School rain garden, Sidwell Friends School wetlands, and California Academy of Sciences green roof, and street-scale's case studies such as NE Siskiyou Green Street, SW 12th Avenue Green Street, and Taylor 28 Green Street. After analyzing these various case studies of green infrastructure as water sensitive urban design strategy, this paper draws water sensitive urban design strategies for sustainable stormwater management. The result of analysis is as follows. Firstly, water sensitive urban design strategy for sustainable stormwater management contains various green infrastructure elements such as urabn wetlands, stormwater parks, eco-streams, green roofs, rain gardens, bio-swales, buffer strips, stormwater planters, permeable pavings, and cisterns. Secondly, these various green infrastructure elements could be applied on the various types of land-use such as buildings, roofs, roads, streets, and parking lots as well as green and water space in urban areas. Thirdly, these multi-dimensional green infrastructure could evaporate, infiltrate, filtrate, and reuse stormwater ecologically through vegetation, soil, and minerals which is applied on green infrastructure. Fourth, these biological green infrastructure could be linked and connected each other to supply more environmental benefits such as urban flood prevention, water purification, and habitat supply for plants and animals than to be applied alone on the various types of land-use. Eventually, these water sensitive urban design strategies as green infrastructure could restore ecologically urban hydrological cycle which is distorted by indiscriminate urban development and could enhance urban biodiversity which is destroyed by massive urban sprawl.