Transforming Urban Spaces: The Benefits of Blue-Green Infrastructure in Sustainable Cities
Blue-green infrastructure (BGI) is a sustainable urban planning approach that manages stormwater while providing environmental, economic, and social benefits. Read how the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) leverages its Green Infrastructure Grant Program to enhance environmental justice, public access, community engagement, education, job training, and biodiversity through BGI projects.
As cities worldwide continue to grow and expand, the importance of sustainable urban planning becomes increasingly clear. One approach to sustainable urban planning that is gaining attention is using BGI. BGI refers to natural and semi-natural systems, such as parks, wetlands, green roofs, and rain gardens, that can be integrated into urban areas to help manage stormwater, improve air and water quality, and provide various social and economic benefits.
Environmental Co-benefits of Blue-Green Infrastructure
One of BGI’s primary environmental co-benefits is its ability to manage stormwater. Urban areas — with large amounts of concrete and asphalt — prevent water absorption, leading to flooding, erosion, and pollution. BGI absorbs, stores, and filters water, reducing the need for costly infrastructure like storm drains and sewers.
Another environmental co-benefit is the improvement of air and water quality. Trees and vegetation absorb air pollutants, while wetlands filter water pollutants. This significantly reduces urban pollution, enhancing residents’ health and well-being.
Economic Co-benefits of Blue-Green Infrastructure
BGI provides various economic co-benefits. For example, green roofs and walls can reduce energy costs by insulating buildings and reducing the need for air conditioning. They can also mitigate the urban heat island effect, reducing energy demand and lowering costs.
BGI can also increase property values. Parks and other green spaces make areas more attractive to residents and businesses, boosting property values and the local economy. Using green infrastructure can reduce the need for costly grey infrastructure like storm drains and sewers, saving municipalities money in the long term.
Social Co-benefits of Blue-Green Infrastructure
BGI provides numerous social co-benefits. Parks and green spaces offer recreation and social interaction areas, improving residents’ health and well-being. They also provide educational opportunities, teaching residents about environmental conservation and sustainability.
BGI promotes social equity by providing green spaces in traditionally underserved areas, reducing environmental and health disparities and helping create more livable and sustainable communities for all residents.
Case Study: San Francisco’s Green Infrastructure Grant Program Co-Benefits and Evaluation Criteria
The SFPUC’s Green Infrastructure Grant Program incentivizes property owners to implement green stormwater infrastructure projects with significant community and environmental benefits. To qualify for funding, projects must demonstrate at least two co-benefits from a predefined list, ensuring a comprehensive approach to sustainability. These co-benefits include addressing environmental justice, enhancing public access and recreation, fostering community engagement and placemaking, promoting education and watershed stewardship, and providing green infrastructure job training.
Projects are evaluated on their proposed community and environmental benefits, the clarity of the application narrative, and the process for delivering these outcomes. The evaluation also considers how well the projects exceed minimum criteria to integrate social and environmental benefits. Each selected co-benefit is scored individually, and applicants may receive partial points for any co-benefits.
For environmental justice, projects must identify the community served, address historical or current environmental burdens, and actively engage the community. Public access projects are assessed on their inviting public spaces and accessibility. Properties must be open for at least seven hours per weekend or three hours per weekday, with a public notification schedule included.
Community engagement involves residents throughout the design process, ensuring their vision is reflected. This includes engagement strategies and schedules prioritizing community input through workshops and design charrettes. Educational components are evaluated on their ability to promote stormwater management awareness. Applicants must describe educational design elements and may include long-term educational plans. Green infrastructure job training aims to build local capacity in maintenance and implementation by providing job training programs or serving as training sites.
In addition, projects are evaluated for their ability to capture and reuse rainwater, increase resilience to urban heat and flooding, and support biodiversity through native plantings. By requiring these co-benefits, the Green Infrastructure Grant Program ensures that funded projects manage stormwater effectively and deliver broad, impactful benefits to the community and environment.
The Take-Out
Incorporating Blue-Green Infrastructure into urban areas creates more livable, sustainable, and resilient communities.
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Blue and Green Cities: The Role of Blue-Green Infrastructure in Managing Urban Water Resources
This revised edition explores urban policy innovations promoting blue-green infrastructure (BGI) for sustainable water management. With updated research and seven diverse case studies, the book illustrates how cities use BGI to reduce stormwater runoff, enhance waterway health, and build climate resilience. It highlights fiscal and non-fiscal tools used by cities to implement BGI on both public and private properties.
Financing Water Security and Green Growth (Oxford University Press)
