Blue-green infrastructure as a new trend and an effective tool for water management in urban areas

Abstract

Blue-green infrastructures (BGI) integrate solutions implemented to enhance water management and landscape values for more climateresilient and livable cities. BGI have created an opportunity to renew the natural structure of water balance in cities through the increase in rainwater retention and enlargement of permeable areas. The review of the literature on BGI development and solutions showed that the most popular BGI elements in terms of urban water quantity and quality were rain gardens, green roofs, vertical greening systems, and permeable pavements. Their structure and effectiveness were presented and reviewed. Despite the consensus between researchers that BGI benefit urban hydrology, differences in runoff decreased (2%-100%) lowering the peak flows (7%-70%) and infiltration (to 60%) or evapotranspiration (19%-84%) were reported. Due to an individual technical structure, each BGI element plays a specific role and there is no universal BGI solution against water-related problems. We inferred that the most effective ones were individually adapted solutions, which prevent from a stressor. The greater variety of solutions in a given area, the more benefits for the urban environment. Our analyses showed that a holistic and co-creative approach to create blue-green networks should be considered in modern water management plans.