Special Issue "Advances in Green Infrastructure Planning"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Hyun-Woo Kim
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Urban Policy and Administration, Incheon National University, Incheon 22009, Korea
Interests: green infrastructure; hazard management; urban flooding; stormwater management; low-impact development; landscape metrics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The expansion of urban areas has facilitated the conversion of undeveloped lands, which has led to environmental degradation, such as loss of habitats, hydro-modification, and the collapse of existing ecosystems. Recent climate change has exacerbated these damages by causing more frequent and serious hazards. To attenuate the impacts of urbanization and the negative effects of climate change, green infrastructure (GI) planning (e.g., nature-based strategies, technologies, policies, and solutions) has arisen as an important approach for balancing urban development and nature. GI offers a variety of benefits to our cities by reducing stormwater runoff, heat waves, and air pollution; expanding wildlife habitats; and increasing recreational opportunities and even nearby property values.

While many studies have revealed various positive effects of GI, further contributions to the linkage of hubs and corridors; the adoption of up-to-date, smart, low-impact developments practices; urban environmental and hazard management planning; and indirect physical or social effects are still encouraged to promote more systematic and sustainable decision-making processes for different types of green spaces.

In this context, we invite submissions in this Special Issue across a broad spectrum of GI applications at multiple scales, ranging from planning aspects to on-site approaches. In particular, studies contributing to the empirical assessment of GI in addressing urban climate adaptation and hazard management are encouraged. Topics of interest include the following:

- Landscape patterns and configurations;

- Green space connectivity;

- Urban flooding and stormwater management;

- Urban heat mitigation;

- Air quality reduction;

- Low-impact development practices;

- Park and green space planning;

- Planning and policy assessments and reviews;

- Smart green infrastructure.

As these topics are brief examples, other novel or emerging themes relating GI planning to hazard mitigation and climate change adaptations are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Hyun-Woo Kim
Guest Editor

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 papers will be 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 1900 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

  • green infrastructure
  • landscape connectivity
  • urban flooding
  • urban heat island effect
  • fine dust
  • LID
  • plan evaluation
  • smart technologies

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Effectiveness of Green Infrastructure Location Based on a Social Well-Being Index
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9620; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179620 (registering DOI) - 31 Aug 2021
Viewed by 147
Abstract
Urban Green Infrastructure (GI) provides promising opportunities to address today’s pressing issues in cities, mainly resulting from uncurbed urbanization. GI has the potential to make significant contributions to make cities more sustainable by satisfying the growing appetite for higher standards of living as [...] Read more.
Urban Green Infrastructure (GI) provides promising opportunities to address today’s pressing issues in cities, mainly resulting from uncurbed urbanization. GI has the potential to make significant contributions to make cities more sustainable by satisfying the growing appetite for higher standards of living as well as helping cities adapt to extreme climate events. To leverage the potentials of GI, this article aims to investigate the effectiveness of GI that can enhance social welfare benefits in the triple-bottom line of urban sustainability. First, publicly available data sets representing social demographic, climate, and built environmental elements are collected and indexed to normalize its different scales by the elements, which is termed as the “Social Well-being Index.” Second, a random forest regressor was applied to identify the impacts of variables on the indexed scores by region. As a result, both the Seoul and Gyeonggi-do models found the most significant relationship with the type of GI to prevent pollutants and disasters, followed by GI types to conserve and improve the environment in Seoul and GI types to serve activity spaces in Gyeonggi-do. Furthermore, variables such as population, number of pollutants, and employment rate in Seoul were found significant and employment rate, population, and air pollution were significant in Gyeonggi-do. Finally, a scenario analysis is conducted to investigate the impacts of the overall index score with additional GI facilitation according to the model’s findings. This article can provide effective strategies for implementing policies about GI by considering regional conditions. The analytical processes in this article can provide useful insights into preparing effective ecological and environmental improvement policies accordingly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Green Infrastructure Planning)
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Article
The Potential of Stormwater Management in Addressing the Urban Heat Island Effect: An Economic Valuation
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8685; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168685 - 04 Aug 2021
Viewed by 289
Abstract
Urban green infrastructure (UGI) within sustainable stormwater management provides numerous benefits to urban residents, including urban heat island (UHI) mitigation. Cost–benefit analyses (CBA) for UGI have been conducted at neighborhood level with a focus on stormwater management, but valuations of reductions in heat-related [...] Read more.
Urban green infrastructure (UGI) within sustainable stormwater management provides numerous benefits to urban residents, including urban heat island (UHI) mitigation. Cost–benefit analyses (CBA) for UGI have been conducted at neighborhood level with a focus on stormwater management, but valuations of reductions in heat-related hospitalizations and mortality are lacking. These benefits create significant social value; the quantification thereof is essential for urban planning in providing a scientific foundation for the inclusion of UGI in UHI mitigation strategies. This study assesses the potential of three UGI scenarios developed for an urban neighborhood in Berlin, Germany. First, climate data analyses were conducted to determine the cooling effects of tree drains, facade greening, and green roofs. Second, a CBA was performed for each scenario to value UHI mitigation by estimating the damage costs avoided in reduced heat-related hospitalizations and fatalities, using the net present value (NPV) and benefit–cost ratio (BCR) as indicators of economic feasibility. The results indicate heat mitigation capabilities of all three UGI types, with tree drains achieving the strongest cooling effects. Regarding economic feasibility, all scenarios achieve positive NPVs and BCRs above one. The findings confirm the potential of stormwater management in mitigating UHI and generating substantial social value. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Green Infrastructure Planning)
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