Multifunctional Green Infrastructure Research Articles

Towards the intentional multifunctionality of urban green infrastructure: a paradox of choice?

Decades of research on multifunctional Green Infrastructure (GI) has yet to translate into holistic implementation in the built environment. This oversight stems from assumptions that many ecosystem services occur passively and thus potential synergies are overlooked during planning and design. This study offers specific guidance for coordinating GI planning, design, and construction by examining the current state of academic literature on these aspects. It identifies 15 GI elements (e.g., green roofs) and 15 objectives (e.g., biodiversity) to collectively consider before implementation. The literature tends to isolate discussions of “engineered” GI elements with water-related objectives, while more “natural” GI are linked to biodiversity and human well-being. Coordinating across GI objectives and elements remains imperative, but evaluating too many options risks a paradox of choice. This study recommends short-term adherence to principles of adaptive design and, in the long-term, reemphasizes multifunctionality assessments, inter and transdisciplinary collaboration, and political will.

Quantitative, Qualitative and Thermal Aspects of Rainwater Retention on Wetland Roofs

Wetland roofs (WRs) are a multi-functional green infrastructure measure to mitigate the negative effects of climate change. The present work advances knowledge in the field of WRs by analyzing the performance of rainwater management, focused on water sufficiency, water quality and cooling potential. Automatic monitoring, covering weather conditions, temperature and the conductivity of WR water, and the amount of outflow into retention tanks, was supported with automated sampling of water for laboratory analysis of BOD5, phosphate phosphorus, suspended solids, electrical conductivity (EC), redox potential (Eh), color and pH. From April to September 2022, a precipitation deficit of 395.45 mm and a negative climatic water balance of 267.91 mm were observed. It was necessary to fill up the system several times in order to maintain water at the assumed level. In most cases, the values of EC observed during the monitoring period were higher than those reported for rainwater. Continuous monitoring of EC in the wetland was a useful tool for the observation of operating activities in the system; however, it was not sufficient for system control. BOD5 values did not exceed 6 mg dm−3 and were lower than reported for urban rainwater retention reservoirs. Suspended solids values did not exceed 27 mg dm−3. Color varied between 0 and 101 PtCo, with the highest values noted in July and the beginning of August. The pH value ranged between 7.28 and 8.24. The Eh varied between 155 and 306 mV, with lower values associated with the filling up of the wetland. Peak values of PO4-P were observed between the end of July and the beginning of September 2022, with a maximum concentration of 232 µg dm−3 utilized by the wetland within one month. Monitoring of the water and air temperature showed a thermal buffering effect of the wetland. The results of the research, conducted during the growing season, allow for better management of rainwater on the roof. However, there is a need to expand the scope of the analyzed water quality parameters. Although there are several limitations to the analysis, the present study partially fills the existing knowledge gap and may generate further interest in this topic among researchers and decision-makers.

Green infrastructure sustains the food-energy-water-habitat nexus

The ecosystem service potential of urban green infrastructure (GI) is increasingly appreciated, yet its underpinning role in the food-energy-water-habitat (FEWH) nexus is unclear. In order to explore the positive and negative impacts of GI on the FEWH nexus, this study asked three questions: 1) What are the research hotspots in FEWH for GI and what are the trends over time? 2) What ecosystem services can GI provide in terms of FEWH? 3) Can we quantify the ecosystem service potential of GI, and what are the synergies and trade-offs among the service types? By collating the research evidence which supports the ecosystem service potential of GI to contribute to FEWH, we developed a matrix to score the potential and to assess the synergies and trade-offs among ecosystem services. From this, a conceptual framework of the role of GI in supporting the FEWH nexus was developed. The results show that the potential of GI to sustain the FEWH nexus is significant and that multi-functional GI planning is necessary to minimize the trade-offs between them. This requires the application of new methods, theories, adaptation to new circumstances, and the development of appropriate business models within the planning domain, as well as compliance with policy directions and funding externally.

A Decision Support Tool for Green Infrastructure Planning in the Face of Rapid Urbanization

Multifunctional green infrastructure, a key component of compact sustainable cities, is challenged by the pressures associated with rapid urbanization. In this paper, we present a method that uses remote sensing, GIS modeling and stakeholder engagement to produce a decision support tool that communicates the availability and need for green infrastructure benefits. The case study presented is the City of Tshwane, South Africa, a Global South city facing rapid urbanization. We found that this method of mapping green infrastructure benefits can provide simultaneous oversight on multiple objectives for green infrastructure, including climate change adaptation, biodiversity, and equitable distribution of urban green space. We found that low-scoring benefit areas occur in dense urban areas where small-scale nature-based solutions or rehabilitation activities are required. Moderate benefit scores occurred in parts of the city that are vulnerable to urban expansion and densification activities, warranting the careful planning of green infrastructure provision, and that moderate-to-high-scoring areas can be protected as conservation areas. The results are discussed in terms of the role of decision support tools for urban planning practice. Composite indexes can provide important guidance to decision-makers involved in spatial planning and urban upgrading and expansion activities.

A typology for urban Green Infrastructure to guide multifunctional planning of nature-based solutions

Urban Green Infrastructure (GI) provides multiple benefits to city inhabitants and can be an important component in nature-based solutions (NBS), but the ecosystem services that underpin those benefits are inconsistently quantified in the literature. There remain substantial knowledge gaps about the level of service supported by less studied GI types, e.g. cemeteries, or less-studied ecosystem services, e.g. noise mitigation. Decision-makers and planners in cities often face conflicting or incomplete information on the effectiveness of GI, particularly on their ability to provide a suite of co-benefits. Here, we describe a feature-based typology of GI which combines elements of land cover, land use and both ecological and social function. It is consistent with user requirements on mapping, and with the needs of models which can conduct more detailed ecosystem service assessments which can guide NBS design. We provide an evidence synthesis based on published literature, which scores the ability of each GI type to deliver a suite of ecosystem services. In the multivariate analysis of the typology scores, the main axis of variation differentiates between constructed (or hybrid) GI types designed primarily for water flow management (delivering relatively few services) and more natural green GI with trees, or blue GI such as lakes and the sea, which deliver a more multi-functional set of regulating services. The most multi-functional GI on this axis also score highest for biodiversity. The second element of variation separates those GI which support very few cultural services and those which score highly in enabling physical wellbeing and social interaction and, to a lesser extent, restoring capacities. Together the typology and multi-functionality matrix provide a much needed assessment for less studied GI types, and allow planners and decision-makers to make a-priori assessments of the relative ability of different GI as part of NBS to address urban challenges.

Circular utilization of urban tree waste contributes to the mitigation of climate change and eutrophication

Circular utilization of urban tree waste contributes to the mitigation of climate change and eutrophication

Multifunctional Green Infrastructure in Shrinking Cities: How Does Urban Shrinkage Affect Green Space Planning?

Despite global urbanization, not all cities have increasing populations. While not homogenous, shrinking cities arguably have different opportunities and challenges for green space than growing cities. This article reports a structured content analysis to investigate how urban green space planning evolved in two case study cities: Buffalo (New York, US) and Porto (Portugal). These cities both underwent shrinkage and suburbanization but with very different green space planning histories. The concept of green infrastructure is used as a lens to analyze green space planning change, specifically focused on multifunctionality. The aim of investigating how objectives and priorities for planning green spaces change during a period of urban shrinkage, and particularly what functions these cities have assigned to green space, showed that, over time, green spaces were expected to produce more ecological functions in both cities, and, particularly in Buffalo, contribute to the economic and demographic outcomes of the city. Overall trends in green space planning appear to have played a role but we find shrinking cities may leverage green space to meet unique needs. These findings contribute to the literature by addressing how shrinkage affects not only vacant areas but also overall green space planning, as well as suggesting that general green space planning studies should consider demographic change as a relevant context factor.

Ecosystem services of urban agriculture and prospects for scaling up production: A study of Detroit

Urban agriculture provides a range of ecosystem services (as well as potential disservices). This study examines the spatial extent, physical characteristics, and residents' perceptions of community and private gardens in Detroit, a city that has high potential for agricultural development given its abundant vacant and abandoned land. Despite popular narratives of Detroit as a mecca for urban agriculture, spatial analysis of the city's Lower Eastside (~15 sq. miles) reveals that gardens cover less than 1% of the vacant land and are often an ephemeral form of land use. Interviews indicate that residents plant gardens primarily for the cultural ecosystem services (e.g. social cohesion, community building) they provide and secondarily for provisioning services (i.e. food production). Uncertainty over land tenure, legacy environmental pollutants, unknowns regarding potential ecosystem disservices, and lack of government support and capital investment are the primary obstacles to scaling up urban agriculture in Detroit and other cities and will need to be addressed. To facilitate its expansion, we propose that urban agriculture be framed as a form of multifunctional green infrastructure. We conducted GIS-based analysis to identify suitable parcels for scaling up agriculture in the study area. To maximize the distribution of ecosystem service benefits, our modeling recommends dispersing rather than clustering gardens in the urban landscape. This strategy would provide more benefits to more people while countering the gentrification effects that may occur when cities expand green space.

Sustainability and Green Socio-Ecosystem Resilience

Humanity is facing a series of critical challenges, global warming being one the most important. Consequently, sustainability and resilience have become key elements in better response to the crisis and maintaining an equilibrium between ecology, economics, and various social domains. The design and use of urban land should consider including a multi-functional green infrastructure to obtain different benefits, from ecosystem services to value creation. Additionally, the urban land-use planning system contributes to economic growth, social development and environmental sustainability, while biodiversity can provide renewal and reorganization capacities for changes in the social-ecosystems. All these elements bring forth a different paradigm for the future decisions of communities. Paper seeks to synthesize Keywords: Resilience, sustainability, urban land use.

An Exploratory Case-Study Approach to Understand Multifunctionality in Urban Green Infrastructure Planning in a South African Context

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) intend to encourage liveable urban environments by 2030 with a main focus on strategies to achieve environmental and human well-being. In the same way, the multifunctionality principle of green infrastructure planning aims to develop and protect urban green spaces to provide several ecosystem services to increase human well-being whilst protecting the environment. With this in mind, this paper seeks to gather evidence on the nexus between multifunctionality and green infrastructure planning to achieve the SDGs within a South African context. The implementation of green infrastructure to this effect depends on creating awareness of different typologies of green infrastructure elements and the ecosystem services they provide to strengthen the implementation of the green infrastructure concept in urban planning practice. Within the aim of context-specific considerations to green infrastructure planning, green infrastructure typologies possible for implementation within a South Africa urban planning practice context are considerably more limited. A qualitative research approach is employed using case studies identifying specific examples to explore South African green infrastructure typologies and their multifunctionality. Different multifunctionality concepts are recognized by urban planners in South Africa. The research findings highlighted that multifunctionality achieved through green infrastructure planning should inform urban planning practice to promote the integration of ecological considerations. The paper ultimately provides a deeper insight into the expanding field of green infrastructure research in a South African context by underlining context-based multifunctional green infrastructure typologies and accordingly emphasizes, mainstreaming the ecosystem services concept as part of urban planning practice to address the SDGs locally.

Multifunctional green infrastructure: planning and design for long-term care

Multifunctional green infrastructure: planning and design for long-term care

Facilitating Multifunctional Green Infrastructure Planning in Washington, DC through a Tableau Interface

Multifunctional urban green infrastructure (UGI) can regulate stormwater, mitigate heat islands, conserve biodiversity and biocultural diversity, and produce food, among other functions. Equitable governance of UGI requires new tools for sharing pertinent information. Our goal was to develop a public-access geographic information system (GIS) that can be used for comprehensive UGI planning in Washington, DC (the District) and to create an e-tool for UGI in the form of Tableau dashboards. The dashboards allow stakeholders to identify (1) existing UGI and (2) potential areas for new UGI including urban agriculture (UA). They also allow users to manipulate the data and identify priority locations for equitable UGI development by applying population vulnerability indices and other filters. We demonstrate use of the dashboards through scenarios focusing on UA in the District, which currently has 150 ha of existing UGI in the form of documented projects and an additional 2734 ha potentially suitable for UGI development. A total of 2575 ha is potentially suitable for UA, with 56% of that area in Wards 5, 7, and 8, which are largely food deserts and whose residents are primarily Black and experience the greatest inequities. Our work can serve as a model for similar digital tools in other locales using Tableau and other platforms.

A regional spatial planning model for multifunctional green infrastructure

There is a growing interest in planning for green infrastructure, as well as a growing recognition of the multifunctional nature of green infrastructure, since it provides many social and environmental benefits to cities and regions. However, there is a lack of appropriate methods for prioritizing the locations for green infrastructure interventions. In response, this article proposes a spatial multi-criteria analysis for green infrastructure. We demonstrate the method at the regional scale for Southeast Michigan, as well as through two embedded case studies within this region. We show how the method can be adapted for rural parks and conservation planning, as well as for urban green infrastructure planning within the City of Detroit. Although lacking the analytical structure needed for some planning questions, and limited by data and access to appropriate technical skills, we argue the spatial planning approach strikes an appropriate balance between technical rigor and transparency required for collaborative planning practice. The described GIS-based analysis technique can be used as part of a planning process to identify locations for green infrastructure expansion or improvement in a way that acknowledges and balances their social and environmental benefits.

Assessing urban ecosystem services in support of spatial planning in the Hague, the Netherlands

Green infrastructure (GI) is increasingly addressed in urban planning and research to enhance urban sustainability and resilience through the provisioning of ecosystem services (ES). Yet, few applications exist of planning models for multifunctional GI in high spatial and thematic detail that simultaneously align with stakeholder interests. We address these gaps by developing and presenting a spatially explicit model to inform urban planners on priority areas for multifunctional GI development. This model was made possible by spatial analyses on multiple scales, enabling us to assess ES in sufficient detail, while simultaneously matching the preferences for scale and ES-indicators of decision makers and urban planners. The model involves a novel weighting scheme based upon the local capacity of GI to mitigate problems. We applied our model to the city of The Hague using a set of three policy-relevant problems: air pollution, the urban heat island effect and storm water flooding. Our results show that the capacity of GI to mitigate these problems varies spatially, both within and between ES, and depends on local characteristics of GI and the environmental context. We illustrate the relevance of using a multi-scale approach in spatial ES analysis, and underline that GI planning measures should be assessed in high spatial detail due to their often locally distinct ES capacity. Our approach makes important strides towards the deployment of nature-based solutions for urban challenges in the light of demands for increasing resilience and sustainability.

Nature-Based Solutions for Storm Water Management—Creation of a Green Infrastructure Suitability Map as a Tool for Land-Use Planning at the Municipal Level in the Province of Monza-Brianza (Italy)

Growing and uncontrolled urbanization and climate change (with an associated increase in the frequency of intense meteoric events) have led to a rising number of flooding events in urban areas due to the insufficient capacity of conventional drainage systems. Nature-Based Solutions represent a contribution to addressing these problems through the creation of a multifunctional green infrastructure, both in urban areas and in the countryside. The aim of this work was to develop a methodology to define Green Infrastructure for stormwater management at the municipal level. The methodology is defined on the basis of three phases: the definition of the territorial information needed, the production of base maps, and the production of a Suitability Map. In the first phase, we define the information needed for the identification of non-urbanized areas where rainwater can potentially infiltrate, as well as areas with soil characteristics that can exclude or limit rainwater infiltration. In the second phase, we constructed the following base maps: a “map of green areas”, a “map of natural surface infiltration potential” and a “map of exclusion areas”. In phase 3, starting from the base maps created in phase 2 and using Geographical Information Systems’ (GIS) geoprocessing procedures, the “Green area compatibility map to realize Green Infrastructure”, the “map of areas not suitable for infiltration” and the final “Green Infrastructure Suitability Map” are created. This methodology should help municipal authorities to set up Green Infrastructure Suitability Maps as a tool for land-use planning.

Spatial Planning of Green Infrastructure for Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change at a Regional Scale

Green infrastructure has acquired greater importance in recent years in relation to climate change adaptation. Green infrastructure planning has been identified as a new and innovative means of land planning that can contribute to preventing the impacts of climate change. However, this has been explored more thoroughly in urban areas than at the regional scale. The present study proposes a methodology including multi-criteria evaluation techniques for assessing the ESS involved in the fight against climate change and for the spatial planning of multifunctional green infrastructure areas based on the results of this assessment. Application of the methodology for green infrastructure planning aimed at confronting climate change at landscape level in the region of Galicia (NW Spain) successfully delimited multifunctional green infrastructure zones. Results show that delimited zones have a higher provision potential for more ESS than protected natural areas and areas that are not part of the green infrastructure.

Planning urban community gardens strategically through multicriteria decision analysis

Urban agriculture is widely promoted as a strategy to advance sustainability goals. Urban community gardens serve as multifunctional green infrastructure, providing an array of social and environmental co-benefits. While these services, such as increased access to nutritious food, have been studied extensively, research on siting community gardens remains sparse, especially in their multifunctional roles. This paucity is significant because the spatial distribution of gardens determines which residents benefit from them, the long-term garden success, and the multiple co-benefits for neighborhoods and metropolitan areas. To overcome potential biases related to decisions made ad hoc or by community requests, this study presents a systematic stakeholder-driven approach for strategic urban community garden siting through Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), reducing thousands of potential parcels to a small number for subsequent in-depth site analysis. We apply this methodology in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Utilizing local stakeholder-weighted criteria, we develop siting indices that incorporate physical and sociodemographic factors that either contribute to site potential or represent priority locations for gardens. The resulting indices–a Social Characteristics Index, Physical Setting Index, and Comprehensive Index–are applied to an expansive inventory of vacant candidate parcels across the metro. The three indices identify moderate to high-scoring parcels within the urban core, but siting scores diverge towards the urban fringe. When tasked with assessing the siting criteria comprehensively, stakeholders prioritize social criteria. Thus, the Social Characteristics and Comprehensive indices prioritize disadvantaged communities in the urban core, potentially excluding aspiring gardeners who live in suburbs. This highlights a potential tradeoff between planning urban community gardens to maximize desired co-benefits and other siting criteria that may influence long-term success.

Improving Community Health and Wellbeing Through Multi-Functional Green Infrastructure in Cities Undergoing Densification

Abstract Evidence shows that maintaining a relationship with nature is essential for human health and wellbeing. This is of great importance when migration to urban areas is increasing globally and the need for nature as well as green and blue spaces as a source of recreation and relaxation is highly regarded for the health and wellbeing of local communities. Sustainable urban development and alternative design solutions to address urban compactness and densification are becoming increasingly important tools to counteract the adverse effects of urban sprawl. In the context of the highly compact bicultural capital city of Wellington, Aotearoa-New Zealand, this paper examines the effects of urban densification and compact city development in urban green spaces. It explores how architecture and landscape architecture can transform urban environments into desirable places to live and capitalise on the potentials of interstitial spaces, outdated zoning and changing land-use. To achieve that, it looks at green and blue infrastructure design solutions and opportunities that foster sustainable intensification and by offering new views for health and wellbeing that improve the social, cultural and environmental health of the city.

Green infrastructure spatial planning considering ecosystem services assessment and trade-off analysis. Application at landscape scale in Galicia region (NW Spain)

Green Infrastructure (GI) is increasingly being adopted in land management as a way of ensuring provision of the ecosystem services (ESS) required for human well-being. As GI is a spatial concept, spatial planning methods must be applied in designing GI. Many studies have focused on designing certain GI zones or on planning a GI specifically considering one or a few ESS. However, studies on GI planning considering all types of ESS and different GI zones are scarce. This paper describes a methodology that addresses the holistic spatial planning of GI by considering the potential capacity of areas to provide all of the ESS assessed. Buffer zones and multifunctional zones were delineated by using a specific procedure for each zone at landscape scale. The spatial planning of buffer areas and multifunctional zones was based on the analysis of trade-offs between ESS and on the integration of synergic ESS by means of a multicriteria evaluation technique. The methodology was validated by application to the spatial planning of a GI in the region of Galicia at landscape level. Integration of the results of ESS assessment in a multifunctional GI makes land planning and management easier and ensures provision of all types of ESS.

Contribution of Connectivity Assessments to Green Infrastructure (GI)

A major goal of green infrastructure (GI) is to provide functional networks of habitats and ecosystems to maintain biodiversity long-term, while at the same time optimizing landscape and ecosystem functions and services to meet human needs. Traditionally, connectivity studies are informed by movement ecology with species-specific attributes of the type and timing of movement (e.g., dispersal, foraging, mating) and movement distances, while spatial environmental data help delineate movement pathways across landscapes. To date, a range of methods and approaches are available that (a) are relevant across any organism and movement type independent of time and space scales, (b) are ready-to-use as standalone freeware or custom GIS implementation, and (c) produce appealing visual outputs that facilitate communication with land managers. However, to enhance the robustness of connectivity assessments and ensure that current trends in connectivity modeling contribute to GI with their full potential, common denominators on which to ground planning and design strategies are required. Likewise, comparable, repeatable connectivity assessments will be needed to put results of these scientific tools into practice for multi-functional GI plans and implementation. In this paper, we discuss use and limitations of state-of-the-art connectivity methods in contributing to GI implementation.