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Sustainability
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Sustainable Stormwater Management and Green Infrastructure
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Sustainable Stormwater Management and Green Infrastructure

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Oceans".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 7368

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Marcin K. Widomski

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Lublin University of Technology, Lublin, Poland
Interests: sustainability; urban stormwater management; sustainable rural sanitation; economic aspects of sustainable development; porous media hydraulics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Anna Musz-Pomorska

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Lublin University of Technology, Lublin, Poland
Interests: environmental engineering; sustainable water; sewage and waste management; stormwater systems; water quality; soil moisture and hydraulic conductivity measurements; numerical modeling of water flow in pipelines and soil media
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently observed climate changes, characterized by changes in the frequency of high-intensity extreme rainfall events, combined with rapidly developing urbanization, have resulted in significant changes in water balance in urbanized catchments. An increase in the volume and flow rate of surface runoff, combined with frequent flooding, and a decrease in infiltration rate, allowing underground aquifers to recharge, is commonly reported in urban basins. Green infrastructure, utilizing plants and porous media, allowing the interception, retention, infiltration, and evaporation of rainwater, may be successfully applied to restore the distorted water balance of urban catchments. Thus, green-architecture-based sustainable rainwater management in urbanized regions, considered within environmental, economic, and social pillars of sustainability, seems to be a crucial and effective way to manage rainwater.

We are pleased to invite you to this Special Issue, which aims to present and to extend the actual state of knowledge considering the application of green infrastructure to sustainable stormwater management in urbanized catchments in relation to its sustainability, social-economic, technical, and legal aspects.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Application of green infrastructure to sustainable stormwater management in urbanized regions;
  • Green infrastructure as a measure of climate change adaptation and flood reduction;
  • Trends, benefits, and limitations of green architecture and low-impact development in urban catchments;
  • Economic aspects of sustainable stormwater management, including investment as well as operation and maintenance costs, economic feasibility, cost efficiency, potential benefits, and willingness-to-pay;
  • Public policies and social and legal aspects of green infrastructure application to rainwater management;
  • Hydrologic efficiency of green infrastructure in limiting the volume and flow rate of surface runoff in urbanized catchments;
  • Characteristics of green infrastructure components, including plants, infiltration substrates, drainage materials, etc., affecting its application efficiency in stormwater management.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Marcin K. Widomski
Dr. Anna Musz-Pomorska
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable stormwater management
  • green infrastructure
  • urban catchment
  • water balance
  • green roofs
  • low-impact development
  • surface runoff
  • economic feasibility
  • cost-efficiency

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 12773 KiB  
Article
Multi-Scale Sponge Capacity Trading and SLSQP for Stormwater Management Optimization
by An-Kang Liu, Qing Xu, Wen-Jin Zhu, Yang Zhang, De-Long Huang, Qing-Hai Xie, Chun-Bo Jiang and Hai-Ruo Wang
Sustainability 2025, 17(10), 4646; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17104646 - 19 May 2025
Viewed by 277
Abstract
Low-impact development (LID) facilities serve as a fundamental approach in urban stormwater management. However, significant variations in land use among different plots lead to discrepancies in runoff reduction demands, frequently leading to either the over- or under-implementation of LID infrastructure. To address this [...] Read more.
Low-impact development (LID) facilities serve as a fundamental approach in urban stormwater management. However, significant variations in land use among different plots lead to discrepancies in runoff reduction demands, frequently leading to either the over- or under-implementation of LID infrastructure. To address this issue, we propose a cost-effective optimization framework grounded in the concept of “Capacity Trading (CT)”. The study area was partitioned into multi-scale grids (CT-100, CT-200, CT-500, and CT-1000) to systematically investigate runoff redistribution across heterogeneous land parcels. Integrated with the Sequential Least Squares Programming (SLSQP) optimization algorithm, LID facilities are allocated according to demand under two independent constraint conditions: runoff coefficient (φ ≤ 0.49) and runoff control rate (η ≥ 70%). A quantitative analysis was conducted to evaluate the construction cost and reduction effectiveness across different trading scales. The key findings include the following: (1) At a constant return period, increasing the trading scale significantly reduces the demand for LID facility construction. Expanding trading scales from CT-100 to CT-1000 reduces LID area requirements by 28.33–142.86 ha under the φ-constraint and 25.5–197.19 ha under the η-constraint. (2) Systematic evaluations revealed that CT-500 optimized cost-effectiveness by balancing infrastructure investments and hydrological performance. This scale allows for coordinated construction, avoiding the high costs associated with small-scale trading (CT-100 and CT-200) while mitigating the diminishing returns observed in large-scale trading (CT-1000). This study provides a refined and efficient solution for urban stormwater management, overcoming the limitations of traditional approaches and demonstrating significant practical value. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Stormwater Management and Green Infrastructure)
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15 pages, 3248 KiB  
Article
Not Always an Amenity: Green Stormwater Infrastructure Provides Highly Variable Ecosystem Services in Both Regulatory and Voluntary Contexts
by Joanna P. Solins, Mary L. Cadenasso, Logan E. G. Brissette and Steward T. A. Pickett
Sustainability 2025, 17(6), 2648; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17062648 - 17 Mar 2025
Viewed by 404
Abstract
Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) is advocated for its potential to provide multiple ecosystem services, including stormwater runoff mitigation, wildlife habitat, and aesthetic value. However, the provision of these ecosystem services depends on both facility design and maintenance, which may vary based on whether [...] Read more.
Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) is advocated for its potential to provide multiple ecosystem services, including stormwater runoff mitigation, wildlife habitat, and aesthetic value. However, the provision of these ecosystem services depends on both facility design and maintenance, which may vary based on whether GSI was installed to fulfill regulatory construction permit requirements or implemented voluntarily as part of urban greening initiatives. We evaluated 76 GSI facilities distributed across Baltimore, MD, USA, comprising 48 voluntary and 28 regulatory facilities. Each facility was scored on indicators related to the provision of stormwater, habitat, and aesthetic ecosystem services. Ecosystem service scores were highly variable, reflecting a wide range of quality and condition, but we found no significant differences between scores for regulatory and voluntary GSI. However, voluntary GSI scores tended to be higher in areas with greater socioeconomic status, while regulatory facilities showed an inverse relationship. Our findings indicate that GSI facilities can degrade quickly, and that official maintenance requirements for regulatory facilities do not guarantee upkeep. Regulatory requirements did have better outcomes in areas with lower socioeconomic status, though. Degraded GSI facilities may do more harm than good, becoming both unsightly and ineffective at providing intended stormwater or habitat benefits. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Stormwater Management and Green Infrastructure)
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23 pages, 14765 KiB  
Article
Hydrologic Efficiency of Rain Gardens as Countermeasures to Overuse of Concrete in Historical Public Spaces
by Marcin K. Widomski and Anna Musz-Pomorska
Sustainability 2025, 17(6), 2527; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17062527 - 13 Mar 2025
Viewed by 667
Abstract
The overuse of concrete in historical areas, currently observed in various urban watersheds in Poland, may pose a significant threat to the water balance of catchments, leading even to pluvial flooding. The distorted water balance may be, to some extent, restored by sustainable [...] Read more.
The overuse of concrete in historical areas, currently observed in various urban watersheds in Poland, may pose a significant threat to the water balance of catchments, leading even to pluvial flooding. The distorted water balance may be, to some extent, restored by sustainable green architecture designs. This paper presents an attempt at the numerical assessment of changes in the water balance caused by revitalization in three main historical squares in cities in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. A proposal for rain garden installation, allowing the partial restoration of the water balance, is also introduced. Numerical calculations of the runoff generation were performed in SWMM 5 software for real weather conditions recorded in Lublin during the period 1 June–31 August 2024. The performed simulations show that an increase in the imperviousness of the studied urban catchments results in a significant increase in runoff characteristics, with a 78.2–90.9% increase in volume and a 108–141.7% increase in peak flows. The introduction of the proposed rain gardens allows the partial reduction in the runoff volume and peak flows, down by 18.1–30.2% and 17.9–32.0%, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Stormwater Management and Green Infrastructure)
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22 pages, 903 KiB  
Article
Practitioner Perceptions of Mainstreaming Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS): A Mixed Methods Study Exploring Direct Versus Indirect Barriers
by Hebba Haddad, John Bryden and Stuart Connop
Sustainability 2025, 17(5), 2093; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17052093 - 28 Feb 2025
Viewed by 809
Abstract
Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) represent an opportunity to use stormwater management as a mechanism to deliver multiple co-benefits. They can play a key role in urban climate change adaptation, restoring nature, and increasing health and social wellbeing. Despite these benefits, their uptake is [...] Read more.
Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) represent an opportunity to use stormwater management as a mechanism to deliver multiple co-benefits. They can play a key role in urban climate change adaptation, restoring nature, and increasing health and social wellbeing. Despite these benefits, their uptake is limited with many practitioners reporting barriers to implementation. To explore these barriers, and to define actions to unlock scaling, our mixed-methods study explored comparative perceptions of SuDS practitioners within the UK. Survey research (n = 48) provided an overview of broad experiences across a range of SuDS practitioners. Main barriers described were access to funds, difficulty retrofitting, cost to maintain, and the ownership of SuDS. Main issues having the least available information to support SuDS scaling were conflicts with corporate identity, cost to maintain, and collaboration between various stakeholders. Follow-up interviews (n = 6) explored experiences among a contrasting subset of survey respondents: those who experienced the highest number of perceived barriers and those who experienced the fewest barriers to SuDS implementation. From these interviews, key themes were identified that categorized the barriers for SuDS implementations: people-related elements; limiting practicalities; and informational factors. The findings were differentiated between indirect barriers (i.e., soft barriers, such as individual practitioner knowledge and capacity gaps linked to poor knowledge exchange) and direct barriers (i.e., hard barriers including specific gaps in SuDS data and knowledge experienced more universally). The importance of differentiating between knowledge-based (indirect) barriers that can be unlocked by improved information-transfer solutions and actual (direct) barriers that need further considered approaches and the generation of new knowledge to overcome is highlighted. Evidence-based policy recommendations for governmental and SuDS-based organisations are presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Stormwater Management and Green Infrastructure)
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15 pages, 798 KiB  
Article
Public Benefits Valuation of Dynamic Green Roof Stormwater Retention
by Jessica Cook, Yunsun Huh and Matthew Winden
Sustainability 2024, 16(12), 5089; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16125089 - 14 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1304
Abstract
This study evaluates the public benefits associated with different green roof systems to manage stormwater runoff in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. An internet-based stated-preference conjoint choice experiment was administered to residents of Milwaukee to ascertain the public benefits value of different potential green roof infrastructure [...] Read more.
This study evaluates the public benefits associated with different green roof systems to manage stormwater runoff in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. An internet-based stated-preference conjoint choice experiment was administered to residents of Milwaukee to ascertain the public benefits value of different potential green roof infrastructure programs. This study contributes to the literature on the public benefits of green roofs in two ways. First, this study examined the perceived value of dynamic stormwater retention facilitated using “smart” green roofs with access to real-time weather data versus traditional extensive green roofs. Second, a wider range of public benefits associated with green roofs, including improved water quality, air quality, biodiversity, and urban heat island effects, were estimated. Estimation of these public benefits allows for determination of the optimal public policy for supporting green roofs as a component of decentralized stormwater management in municipalities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Stormwater Management and Green Infrastructure)
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19 pages, 1638 KiB  
Review
Implementation of Nature-Based Solutions in Urban Water Management in Viet Nam, a Comparison among European and Asian Countries
by Chau Huynh Thi Ngoc, Yannick Back, Fabian Funke, Martina Hauser and Manfred Kleidorfer
Sustainability 2024, 16(20), 8812; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16208812 - 11 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3185
Abstract
Climate change is severely affecting all regions of the world, and urban water management has become a major urban challenge. Although nature-based solutions (NBSs) have been widely implemented in developed countries in the Global North to address stormwater-related challenges in urban areas, implementation [...] Read more.
Climate change is severely affecting all regions of the world, and urban water management has become a major urban challenge. Although nature-based solutions (NBSs) have been widely implemented in developed countries in the Global North to address stormwater-related challenges in urban areas, implementation of such approaches in Viet Nam and other Asian countries remains limited. In addition, comprehensive and critical reviews of NBS adoption and development processes in Viet Nam are scarce. This study aims to clarify several aspects through a literature-based review: to understand the development of urban water management in Europe and Asia (China and Southeast Asian countries) along with the drivers for NBS implementation in Viet Nam, to explain the barriers to NBS adoption in Viet Nam, to present feasible solutions for promoting NBS adoption, and to explore future perspectives for NBS development in the context of Viet Nam. Although significant barriers exist, opportunities for NBS implementation are evident. The findings of this study can be used to promote NBS in other municipalities in developing countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Stormwater Management and Green Infrastructure)
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