Sustainable urban infrastructure refers to engineered systems that supply energy, transport, water, waste management and information in an urban area as well as an array of community facilities and amenities.
Cities are exploring new methods for building eco-friendly infrastructure that promotes resilience, reduces carbon dioxide emissions, mitigates climate change and adapts to its impacts.
1. Resilience
Many definitions of resilience exist, with most emphasizing its ability to maintain or even enhance health after experiencing any form of stressful event, be it biological, environmental or psychosocial in nature. Resilience can also be thought of as a seesaw where protective factors and coping skills balance against significant adversity on one end and recovery can take place on the other side.
Sustainable urban infrastructure development is crucial to increasing resilience. Parks and green spaces, for instance, can help a city reduce climate change by decreasing carbon emissions while offering recreational opportunities to residents.
An integrated approach is necessary, and more research needs to be conducted on how best to balance the three pillars of sustainability. At present, only 27% of 195 papers reviewed herein considered all aspects of UGI; others focused mainly on environmental or socioeconomic concerns; this area for further development needs further investigation.
2. Sustainability
Urban infrastructure should be eco-friendly from its inception through future maintenance, incorporating green practices throughout equipment such as roads, bridges, power stations, sewage treatment plants and transport networks.
City green infrastructure such as parks, greenways and trails, bioswales, street trees and protected conservation areas can play an integral part in helping reduce carbon emissions, improving air quality, encouraging biodiversity and supporting healthy lifestyles among its residents. Green infrastructure also encompasses renewable energy production and resourceful water management strategies.
Sustainable urban infrastructure should not only be eco-friendly, but should also support social and economic goals such as poverty alleviation, job creation, and access to basic services. Cities should take steps to align socioeconomic aspects of their infrastructure projects with environmental sustainability targets – this may involve including regenerative principles into project design or construction methods.
3. Accessibility
Green infrastructure (GI) offers many benefits to urban residents. It improves mental health while encouraging social connectivity and providing physical fitness opportunities such as walking and jogging – helping reduce rates of obesity related conditions such as Type II Diabetes – while offering communal areas where residents can gather together to organize events or activities to form stronger community bonds.
However, equitable access to green infrastructure (GI) remains a challenge. A lack of accessible facilities hinders low-income communities while increasing environmental injustice. Cities should focus on designing and operating their GI facilities with inclusivity in mind.
This study investigated accessibility to Green Infrastructure cores and nodes in Vitoria-Gasteiz using configurational and Manhattan distance analyses based on pedestrian mobility network. Our researchers discovered that most residents live within 1 km of any core or node; however, some peripheral residential districts exhibit limited integration. Future research should examine strategies that support equitable access without encouraging “green gentrification.”
4. Equity
By 2050, an estimated 7.0 billion people will reside in cities. For them to do so efficiently and sustainably, infrastructure must provide basic needs while respecting ecological limits of our planet. To meet this challenge, understanding how infrastructure components link with socioeconomic attributes must also take place.
At present, engineering evaluations focus on optimizing prioritization of public works projects with limited resources, but do not take into account deeper structural considerations that underlie social inequities. For instance, neighborhoods featuring well-lit and draining green infrastructure attract families able to afford higher housing costs, perpetuating inequalities across generations.
YSE is currently developing tools that integrate urban sustainability and equity. This includes research examining whether federal investments in infrastructure are evenly distributed among communities, and exploring methods of incorporating community-based participatory design evaluations with public policies that foster equitable outcomes.