Green Urban (RE) Generation: A Research and Practice Methodology to Better Implement Green Urban Infrastructure Solutions

Abstract

Green Urban Infrastructure Solutions (GUIS) are becoming more and more popular globally. Recent research reveals the environmental benefits derived from GUIS as well as their contribution to climate change adaptation. However, the urgent need for GUIS in order to meet the Paris Agreement, has not translated into an easy implementation thereof. This paper proposes a circular design methodology (CDM) where the combination of research and practice contributes to minimize both current skepticism and barriers when implementing GUIS. It includes a community engagement process to better understand their sensitivity and build consensus on GUIS. Additionally, GUIS are implemented, in a series of pilot projects and specific research is applied to comprehend the environmental benefits derived from these GUIS. The paper argues that GUIS represent a significant opportunity to respond to climate change risks as well as to achieve other urban benefits; however, in order to overcome existing barriers and skepticism, the proposed CDM reaches for more consensual urban solutions and drives uptake and implementation of GUIS, contributing to move from pilot project to common practice.

A Systematic Review of Green Building Development in China: Advantages, Challenges and Future Directions

“…Green building is pivotal in mitigating the negative impacts of construction activities [147][148][149]. From the standpoint of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, green buildings have significant contributions due to their preference for recyclable materials and energy, low-carbon components, and sustainable operation and maintenance patterns [150][151][152][153].…”

“…Through the discussion and analysis of the research results that are described in Section 3, it can be determined that green buildings can provide significant benefits throughout China. In the aspect of environmental preservation, green buildings can effectively achieve energy conservation and greenhouse gas reduction in China [140,[143][144][145][147][148][149][150][151][152][153]. Through green building development, the negative environmental impact and energy consumption that are caused by construction activities in China can be effectively mitigated.…”

Urban Participation + Research + Regulation Method (PRRM) to Broadly Implement Green Urban Infrastructure Solutions

“…there is usually a high return on green infrastructure (gi) investments and overall reviews of restoration projects typically show cost-benefit ratios in the range of 3 to 75 [7]. in addition, current research shows gUis are effective solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change [8].…”

“…2 pRRm desigN method the pRRm design method lies within the context of the lARg paradigm (lean, Agile, Resilient and green), a management tool in enhancing the supply chain to be more efficient, streamlined and sustainable [9], which is applied to an urban design method presented in this paper. in addition, the pRRm method takes one step further than the design process described in previous publications [8,10]. this pRRm design method includes a new phase: Regulation, which enriches previous design methods and is crucial to definitely promote and broadly implement gUis.…”