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Urban blue infrastructure (UBI) and urban green infrastructure (UGI) can be seen as an integrated system in which services and spatial layouts complement each other. However, given its complexity, it is difficult to integrate and optimize the layout of urban blue and green infrastructure (UBGI) in the built environment. This study develops a planning support tool for the layout integral optimization (PSTLIO) of UBGI. Using Hekou City in China as a case study, service demands and the supply of suitable land for UBGI development are assessed and mapped on geographic information system (GIS). The potential areas for UBGI development are delineated after mapping assessments of service demand and land supply and suitability. Following discussions on the exact means for PSTLIO to support the layout optimization of UBGI, a PSTLIO-based solution is developed to structure the UBGI link network and hub system, define the functions and service patterns of single UBGI components, and provide guidance for determining the scale of UBGI components. The results show that PSTLIO is able to provide a quantifiable base for decision-making in UBGI layout optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green infrastructure designed to address urban drainage and water quality issues is often deployed without full knowledge of potential unintended social, ecological, and human health consequences. Though understood in their respective fields of study, these diverse impacts are seldom discussed together in a format understood by a broader audience. This paper takes a first step in addressing that gap by exploring tradeoffs associated with green infrastructure practices that manage urban stormwater including urban trees, stormwater ponds, filtration, infiltration, rain gardens, and green roofs. Each green infrastructure practice type performs best under specific conditions and when targeting specific goals, but regular inspections, maintenance, and monitoring are necessary for any green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) practice to succeed. We review how each of the above practices is intended to function and how they could malfunction in order to improve how green stormwater infrastructure is designed, constructed, monitored, and maintained. Our proposed decision-making framework, using both biophysical (biological and physical) science and social science, could lead to GSI projects that are effective, cost efficient, and just. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reuse of Spain's obsolete railway infrastructure as greenways, namely vías verdes, reflects a Europe-wide territorial strategy, which has resulted in the refurbishment of more than 2500 km of abandoned Spanish railway lines. The potential of these vías verdes as strategical green infrastructure linkers between settlements and their peripheral natural environments is assessed in two Spanish case studies of Girona and Alicante. The territorial elements that affect vías verdes (natural landscape areas, urban settlements and population) are obtained from public administration sources. Additionally, users' activity through the Wikilock social network is considered. The spatial analysis shows the role of vías verdes in terms of landscape value, accessibility and planning strategy: the itineraries of the vías verdes connect different valuable natural areas with diverse landscape patterns in near proximity to urban nuclei; more than 65% of the population can access a vía verde in less than 200 metres. Moreover, it offers the opportunity to complete a network which could link urban nuclei and their natural periphery through the refurbishment of the remaining stretches. Despite the fact that the full potential of these vías verdes as strategical greenways has not been fully considered in the green infrastructure planning, these corridors could meet environmental, cultural and social sustainable goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few years, soil sealing has been recognized as one of the major threats in terms of soil degradation and loss of ecosystem services. Although many efforts have been promoted to increase the awareness of safeguarding soil for stakeholders, its value as a non-renewable resource as well as soil-related services in urban ecosystems is not implemented enough in urban planning and policies. Due to the spatially explicit component and the geographical scale of soil sealing, mapping and quantifying the number of sealed surfaces is crucial. The aim of this paper was to estimate and geovisualize the soil sealed in the city of Padua (Italy) at a very detailed scale, testing the use of the Biotope Area Factor (BAF) index. Moreover, the paper aimed to simulate an alternative mitigation scenario in a specific study area of the city. Spatial analysis was performed testing the BAF index in a Geographic Information Sistem (GIS) environment and using aerial ortho-photos at very high resolution. The results show different values of the BAF index for all four neighborhoods from 0.35 to 0.69. In the mitigation scenario, the value of the BAF index was improved using a measure of green roofs. In conclusion, the paper provides an insightful case study for enriching the debate about soil sealing and gives scientific support for sustainable urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population that lives in cities has surpassed the one that lives in the countryside. Cities are recognized as apriority source of pollution. The degradation of air quality and the phenomenon of Urban Heat Island (UHI) are some of the most well-known consequences of urban development. The adaptation of the cities is emerging as one of the greatest challenges that urban planners will face in this century. Urban Green Infrastructures (GIs) could help cities adapt to climate change, and the strategy of expansion of greening in urban planning could play an important role in enhancing the sustainability and resilience of cities and communities. Many studies have shown the benefits of GIs to climate change mitigation and adaptation in urban areas and their role as an important urban planning tool to satisfy environmental, social, and economic needs of urban areas. The objective of this article is to propose a methodological approach to evaluate the social perception of citizens regarding urban green areas. The proposed methodology, applied to the reality of the "urban green system" of Catania, is based on an integrated approach between participatory planning and the methods social multi criteria evaluation to guiding the city's government to realize a new urban resilient development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to provide an integrated indicator framework for the Assessment of Multifunctional Green Infrastructure (AMGI) to advance the evolution of the Green Infrastructure (GI) concept, and simultaneously deliver an approach do conduct a GI assessment using remote sensing datasets at multiple spatial and spectral scales. Based on this framework, we propose an explicit methodology for AMGI, while addressing the multi-dimensional pillars (ecology, socio-economy, socio-culture, and human health) for urban sustainability and the multifunctionality of GI. For the purpose of validation, we present the extensive process of employing our framework and methodology, and give an illustrative case exemplified in a European city, i.e., Leipzig, Germany. In this exemplification, we deployed three stages regarding how a single assessment can be conducted: from conceptual framework for priority setting, contextual assessment, to retrospective assessment. In this illustrative case study, we enclosed 18 indicators, as well as identified hot and cold spots of selected GI functions and their multifunctionality. A clear framework and methodology is crucial for the sustainable management of spatially oriented GI plans over time and for different stakeholder groups. Therefore, GI planners and policy makers may now refer to our integrative indicator framework and provided application methodology as common grounds for a better mutual understanding amongst scientists and stakeholders. This study contributes to discourses regarding the enhancement of the GI concept and is expected to provoke more discussion on the improvements of high-quality Remote Sensing (RS) data as well as the development of remote sensing-based methods at multiple spatial, temporal, and spectral scales to support GI plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the relationship between the design features of green infrastructure and the benefits of multifunctionality. To do so, it examines the descriptive linkages between 12 design features and nine benefits using 447 project case studies from the American Society of Landscape Architects. Multiple benefits of green infrastructure were found in 65% of the projects, regardless of the number of applied design features. The major green infrastructure design features with multiple benefits were: bioretention areas, permeable pavements, grassed swales, rainwater harvesting, rain gardens, and curb cuts. The major benefits of applied design features were: enhanced economic capacity, educational opportunities, improvements to the built environment, and enhanced environmental soundness. The findings show that the multiple benefits of green infrastructure's multifunctionality can be inferred in many current cases. Knowing the relationship between design features and their benefits for green infrastructure would facilitate selecting optimal design features to achieve specific goals and planning outcomes. For communities that require a range of complex benefits, a multifunctionality-based green infrastructure will advance highly acceptable climate change adaptation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization is a defining feature of the modern age, yet the current model of urban development profoundly alters the natural environment, often reducing biodiversity and ultimately threatening human wellbeing. An ecologically based urban planning and design paradigm should consider a more harmonious relationship. Through a systematic literature review of 57 papers, this research identified relevant concepts and theories that could underpin this new paradigm. It revealed a noticeable increase in academic interest in this subject since 2013 and the development of concepts and theories that reflect a more holistic socio-ecological systems approach to urban planning and design based on a transdisciplinary integration and synthesis of research. Seven main themes underpin the academic literature: ecosystem services, socio-ecological systems, resilience, biodiversity, landscape, green infrastructure, as well as integrated and holistic approaches. Six of these can be organised into either a sustainability stream or a spatial stream, representing the foundations of a potential new ecological urban planning and design paradigm that applies sustainability-related concepts in a spatial setting. The final theme, integrated and holistic, includes concepts that reflect the fundamental characteristics of this new paradigm, which can be termed 'urban consonance'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban heat is a growing environmental concern in cities around the world. The urban heat island effect, combined with warming effects of climate change, is likely to cause an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events. Alterations to the physical, built environment are a viable option for mitigating urban heat, yet few studies provide systematic guidance to practitioners for adapting diverse land uses. In this study, we examine the use of green infrastructure treatments to evaluate changes in ambient temperatures across diverse land uses in the city of Portland, Oregon. We apply ENVI-met® microclimate modeling at the city-block scale specifically to determine what built environment characteristics are most associated with high temperatures, and the extent to which different physical designs reduce ambient temperature. The analysis included six green infrastructure interventions modeled across six different land-use types, and indicated the varying degrees to which approaches are effective. Results were inconsistent across landscapes, and showed that one mitigation solution alone would not significantly reduce extreme heat. These results can be used to develop targeted, climate- and landscape-specific cooling interventions for different land uses, which can help to inform and refine current guidance to achieve urban climate adaptation goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]