Green infrastructure: The future of urban flood risk management?

Green, Daniel; O'Donnell, Emily; Johnson, Matthew; Slater, Louise; Thorne, Colin; Zheng, Shan; Stirling, Ross; Chan, Faith K.S.; Li, Lei; Boothroyd, Richard J.

Abstract

Urban flooding is a key global challenge which is expected to become exacerbated under global change due to more intense rainfall and flashier runoff regimes over increasingly urban landscapes. Consequently, many cities are rethinking their approach to flood risk management by using green infrastructure (GI) solutions to reverse the legacy of hard engineering flood management approaches. The aim of GI is to attenuate, restore, and recreate a more natural flood response, bringing hydrological responses closer to pre-urbanized conditions. However, GI effectiveness is often difficult to determine, and depends on both the magnitude of storm events and the spatial scale of GI infrastructure. Monitoring of the successes and failures of GI schemes is not routinely conducted. Thus, it can be difficult to determine whether GI provides a sustainable solution to manage urban flooding. This article provides an international perspective on the current use of GI for urban flood mitigation and the solutions it offers in light of current and future challenges. An increasing body of literature further suggests that GI can be optimized alongside gray infrastructure to provide a holistic solution that delivers multiple co-benefits to the environment and society, while increasing flood resilience. GI will have to work synergistically with existing and upgraded gray infrastructure if urban flood risk is to be managed in a futureproof manner. Here, we discuss a series of priorities and challenges that must be overcome to enable integration of GI into existing stormwater management frameworks that effectively manage flood risk.

Citation

Green, D., O'Donnell, E., Johnson, M., Slater, L., Thorne, C., Zheng, S., Stirling, R., Chan, F. K., Li, L., & Boothroyd, R. J. (2021). Green infrastructure: The future of urban flood risk management?. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 8(6), Article e1560. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1560

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 20, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Sep 27, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-11
• Deposit Date: Feb 7, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 28, 2022
• Journal: Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water
• Electronic ISSN: 2049-1948
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 6
• Article Number: e1560
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1560
• Keywords: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law; Ocean Engineering; Water Science and Technology; Aquatic Science; Ecology; Oceanography
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7354116
• Publisher URL: https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wat2.1560
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Green, D., O'Donnell, E., Johnson, M., Slater, L., Thorne, C., Zheng, S., Stirling, R., Chan, F. K. S., Li, L., & Boothroyd, R. J. (2021). Green infrastructure: The future of urban flood risk management? Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 8( 6), e21560, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1560. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.