Stormwater management problems have been deteriorated with the high frequency and intensity of precipitation owing to rapid urbanization and climate variability, especially in urban highly built-up area. Nature-based solutions (NBS) have emerged as a powerful measure for rising these challenges due to their ability to mitigate urban waterlogging and increase carbon sequestration. Identifying optimal locations for NBS implementation remains a critical research focus. This study integrates carbon and water footprint accounting into NBS-based planning for sustainable urban development in central Guangzhou, China, to enhance urban flooding mitigation and carbon sequestration. Through carbon-water footprint analysis and weighting, we prioritized NBS planning. To achieve the objectives of increasing sequestered carbon and reducing urban runoff, three types of NBS—green roofs, permeable pavements, and bioretention systems—were optimized for a high-priority town street. The results showed that the implementation of green roof and permeable pavement reduced the surface runoff by 3.58 %, while the biological retention system reduced the runoff gray water by 27 %. Moreover, the application of green roof and biological retention increased the carbon sequestration by 2.57 million kg CO2-eq (life cycle). The findings of this study provide comprehensive insights into optimization of NBS planning based on carbon-water footprint accounting, facilitating to enhance mitigation of urban flooding vulnerability and carbon sequestration.
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