Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 4 — Narrative / commentaryPeer-reviewed

Green infrastructure: The future of urban flood risk management?

Daniel Green, Emily O’Donnell, Matthew F. Johnson, Louise Slater, Colin R. Thorne, Shan Zheng, Ross Stirling, Faith Ka Shun Chan, Lei Li, Richard Boothroyd

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Water · 2021

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Summary

This international review examines green infrastructure as a solution to urban flooding under global change, moving beyond legacy hard engineering approaches. The authors assess GI effectiveness in restoring hydrological responses closer to pre-urbanised conditions and evaluate how GI can be optimised synergistically with grey infrastructure to deliver environmental and social co-benefits. The review identifies critical priorities and barriers to integrating GI into existing stormwater management frameworks for futureproof urban flood risk management.

Regional applicability

The international perspective offers transferable insights for United Kingdom urban flood management policy and practice, particularly relevant given the UK's increasing focus on sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and nature-based solutions in water management strategies. However, effectiveness will depend on local rainfall intensity, urban morphology, and existing infrastructure legacy specific to individual UK cities and regions.

Key measures

GI effectiveness in flood attenuation; hydrological response restoration; spatial scale dependency; co-benefits to environment and society; flood resilience outcomes

Outcomes reported

The review examines the effectiveness of green infrastructure (GI) solutions in urban flood mitigation and their ability to deliver multiple co-benefits alongside grey infrastructure. It identifies priorities and challenges for integrating GI into existing stormwater management frameworks to manage flood risk sustainably.

Theme
Climate & resilience
Subject
Climate & greenhouse gas mitigation
Study type
Narrative Review
Study design
Narrative review
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
International
System type
Other
DOI
10.1002/wat2.1560
Catalogue ID
SNmqoper8l-ybamu1

Topic tags

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