Urban Biomimicry for Flood Mitigation Using an Ecosystem Service Assessment Tool in Central Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract

Many cities are vulnerable to flooding due to their high proportion of impervious surfaces and lack of vegetated land cover. This vulnerability will often be exacerbated by changing rainfall and storm patterns due to climate change. Using the principles of urban biomimicry, this study aims to show an ecosystem service-based approach to designing an urban green infrastructure network for stormwater management in densely built areas that more closely emulates natural hydrology processes. Nature Braid (next-generation LUCI) is an ecosystem services assessment tool that was used to simulate flood mitigation ecosystem services in a 13.7 km2 urban water catchment in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. The simulation results revealed that 59% of the catchment does not contain or benefit from flood-mitigating land cover features. Adding 0.6 km2 (4% of the catchment) of green roofs alongside major stormwater flow paths resulted in a nearly three-fold decrease (11%) in the unmitigated flooding area. These results suggest that green roofs could help manage stormwater and mitigate flooding in the densely built areas of the catchment. Using ecosystem service assessment tools, like Nature Braid, can inform the design of more regenerative and resilient urban green infrastructure networks that help mitigate climate change impacts on urban residents.

Implications of ecosystem services and ecological network coupling for ecological planning in karst regions of China

“…In landscape ecology, ecological networks are primarily designed to connect and protect increasingly fragmented ecosystems. In related research fields in global regions, other terms are conceptualized similar to ecological networks, such as ecological infrastructure (EI) and green infrastructure (GI) (Louis-Lucas et al, 2022; MacKinnon et al, 2022; Thomas et al, 2022). These concepts used by landscape ecologists and planners refer to a natural life-support system that connects fragmented landscapes in cities and sustains natural ecological processes (Benedict and McMahon, 2002; Bryant, 2006).…”

Climate Proofing Cities by Navigating Nature-Based Solutions in a Multi-Scale, Social–Ecological Urban Planning Context: A Case Study of Flood Protection in the City of Gothenburg, Sweden

“…This type of flooding is usually local and can cause significant damage in urban areas, especially if the drainage system is inadequate or overwhelmed [10,11]. Due to unsustainable land management practices coupled with climate change, floods have become more frequent and severe at a global level over the past few decades [12][13][14], and the problem is exacerbated in the built environment as impervious surfaces of urban areas reduce adaptation to flooding that is otherwise provided by vegetation and soil [8,12]. At the same time, we are observing exponential urbanization [15], which, amongst other things, will further intensify land-use transformation, potentially turning even more green areas into urban built-up land [5].…”

Iterative Search Space Reduction (iSSR) for Optimal Flood Control in Urban Drainage Networks

“…Their results showed that proper implementation of permeable pavements reduced the flow of surface runoff by between 44 and 92%. Numerous studies focusing on green infrastructure implementation to mitigate the impacts of flooding have been conducted [21][22][23][24][25][26]. However, it is essential to recognize that although Low Impact Development (LID) systems can effectively manage stormwater, their efficacy could be constrained during heavy rainfall events.…”