Green infrastructure and urban water management

Everett, Glyn; Lamond, Jessica; Lawson, Emily

Abstract

This chapter will first outline the many challenges water poses in modern society, considering the increasing frequency and severity of flooding and droughts as inevitable outcomes of potential climate change and increasing impermeable ground-cover through urbanization and economic development. It will secondly consider recent suggestions of a paradigm shift in thinking around water management, urban spaces, and the co-development of blue and green infrastructure, thus integrating the different means by which water is managed within towns and cities. Following this, it will look at several shifts in policy and practice that provide examples of how this paradigm shift and support of green infrastructure for urban water management could be finding its way into contemporary urban re/developments. Finally, the chapter will consider the principle stakeholders who will be affected by these changes, arguing that they should be at the heart of new infrastructure developments and brought in as early as possible to ensure the co-construction of sustainable and workable solutions within different contexts embodying different sets of interests and socio-economic pressures. Green infrastructure is increasingly being utilized in strategies to meet urban water management goals, and to help ensure that this process of change advances as quickly and equitably as possible, it is essential that all interested parties are able to contribute to the development of effective solutions.

Citation

Everett, G., Lamond, J., & Lawson, E. (2015). Green infrastructure and urban water management. In S. Burgess, N. Smith, & D. Sinnett (Eds.), Handbook on Green Infrastructure: Planning, Design and Implementation, 50-66. Edward Elgar

• Acceptance Date: Nov 1, 2015
• Publication Date: Dec 10, 2015
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 50-66
• Book Title: Handbook on Green Infrastructure: Planning, Design and Implementation
• ISBN: 9781783473991
• Keywords: environment, urban water management
• Publisher URL: http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/handbook-on-green-infrastructure
• Additional Information: Additional Information : (c) Edward Elgar Publishing. Permission has been granted to host this chapter here. This chapter is for private use only.