Abstract
Cities worldwide are facing problems to mitigate the impact of urban stormwater runoff caused by the increasing occurrence of heavy rainfall events and urban re-densification. This study presents a new approach for estimating the potential of the Management of Urban STormwater at Block-level (MUST-B) by decentralized blue-green infrastructures here called low-impact developments (LIDs) for already existing urban environments. The MUST-B method was applied to a study area in the northern part of the City of Leipzig, Germany. The Study areas was divided into blocks smallest functional units and considering two different soil permeability and three different rainfall events, seven scenarios have been developed: current situation, surface infiltration, swale infiltration, trench infiltration, trough-trench infiltration, and three different combinations of extensive roof greening, trough-trench infiltration, and shaft infiltration. The LIDs have been simulated and their maximum retention/infiltration potential and the required area have been estimated together with a cost calculation. The results showed that even stormwater of a 100 year rainfall event can be fully retained and infiltrated within the blocks on a soil with low permeability (kf = 10−6 m/s). The cost and the required area for the LIDs differed depending on the scenario and responded to the soil permeability and rainfall events. It is shown that the MUST-B method allows a simple down- and up-scaling process for different urban settings and facilitates decision making for implementing decentralized blue-green-infrastructure that retain, store, and infiltrate stormwater at block level.
Highlights
Urban densification [1], climate change [2,3], and sewer system degradation have direct impacts on the water sector in cities
This paper presents the so-called Management of Urban STormwater at Block-level (MUST-B) approach for potential assessment of low-impact developments (LIDs) for already existing urban environments
The study area Leipzig-North, which covers 792 ha was divided into 267 urban blocks and the traffic area
Summary
Urban densification [1], climate change [2,3], and sewer system degradation have direct impacts on the water sector in cities. Conventional urban stormwater management has focused on the principle of collecting and effectively transporting the runoff outside the city [6] This practice has been increasingly recognized as not appropriate and unsustainable under sustainable transformation and climate change [7]. New approaches have been developed and conceptionalized in recent two decades to manage the stormwater decentrally to relive the centralized infrastructure [8] and to restore the natural water balance [9] These approaches include stormwater best management practices (BMPs) [10], blue green infrastructure (BGI) [11], low-impact development (LID) [12], water sensitive urban design (WSUD) [13], and sponge city concepts (SC) [14].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
