Articles on Green infrastructure

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Investing in natural assets like ponds can help prevent cities from flooding — and save municipalities money. (Shutterstock)

How investing in green infrastructure can jump‑start the post‑coronavirus economy

Michael Drescher, University of Waterloo and Lucas Mollame, University of Waterloo

Natural assets produce important city services and complement engineered infrastructure. Investing in natural assets can help protect our environment, reduce municipal service costs and create jobs.
Cities can prepare for climate change emergencies by adding green spaces to help manage stormwater, heat stress and air quality. (Shutterstock)

How cities can add accessible green space in a post‑coronavirus world

Ryan Plummer, Brock University; Darby McGrath, Brock University, and Sivajanani Sivarajah, Toronto Metropolitan University

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the lack of green space available to those living in urban areas. Cities must be managed as ecosystems to make them more liveable and resilient.
Allowing residents to remove trees within three metres of buildings or ‘ancillary structures’ could dramatically alter the green infrastructure of dense inner Sydney suburbs like Rozelle. Tom Casey/Shutterstock

Trees can add $50,000 value to a Sydney house, so you might want to put down that chainsaw

Sara Wilkinson, University of Technology Sydney; Agnieszka Zalejska-Jonsson, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Sumita Ghosh, University of Technology Sydney

Greater urban density is making it harder to preserve, let alone increase, tree cover. It’s vital, then, to demonstrate the full value of green infrastructure for healthy liveable cities.
A shade tree makes a big difference to the comfort of this couple. Nancie Lee/Shutterstock

How do we save ageing Australians from the heat? Greening our cities is a good start

Claudia Baldwin, University of the Sunshine Coast; Jason Byrne, University of Tasmania, and Tony Matthews, Griffith University

Two trends in Australia, an ageing population and warming climate, are increasing the threat that heatwaves pose to our health. Increasing vegetation cover is one way every city can reduce the risk.
Cairns has lots of hard grey infrastructure but much less green infrastructure that would reduce the impacts of the city’s growth. Karine Dupré

Cities can grow without wrecking reefs and oceans. Here’s how

Silvia Tavares, James Cook University and Karine Dupré, Griffith University

Urbanisation is the main reason for rising temperatures and water pollution, but receives little attention in discussions about the health of water streams, reefs and oceans.
Stony Creek drain: untidy and often slightly threatening, informal green space still has value for residents, which appropriate intervention can enhance.

How do we turn a drain into valued green space? First, ask the residents

Leila Mahmoudi Farahani, RMIT University and Cecily Maller, RMIT University

Residents often have concerns about informal green space but some still use it. Work to enhance these areas should aim to resolve these concerns without destroying what residents do value.
A drain carries water but does little else, but imagine how different the neighbourhood would be if the drain could be transformed into a living stream. Zoe Myers

More than just drains: recreating living streams through the suburbs

Zoe Myers, The University of Western Australia

Drains take up precious but inaccessible open space in our cities. Converting these to living streams running through the suburbs could make for healthier places in multiple ways.

Related Topics

  1. Cities
  2. Cities & Policy
  3. Climate change
  4. Green cities
  5. Green roofs
  6. Green space
  7. Infrastructure
  8. Stormwater
  9. Urban greening
  10. Urban planning

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