Sustainable practices implemented into urban infrastructure can gradually make cities greener and more efficient over time, helping reduce carbon dioxide emissions and waste output while simultaneously improving air quality.
Building with nature (NBI) offers many advantages to cities, including cost-effective and climate-resilient infrastructure services like flood protection, water filtration, and temperature regulation.
Greener and more efficient
An essential element of sustainable cities is regenerative infrastructure that captures, stores and filters water efficiently. Solutions may include green roofs, urban green spaces and wetlands as well as creative stormwater management schemes like Fargo-Moorhead’s innovative program that diverts floodwater away from sewer systems instead of green areas.
Sustainable cities can also employ energy- and natural resource-efficient building designs, providing more walking/biking paths and mass transit options that don’t take up as much space for cars – helping residents avoid driving.
Educational institutions also play a pivotal role in sustainability efforts by disseminating knowledge on various aspects of urban sustainability and fostering collaboration among institutions, businesses and local governments to form holistic approaches to building sustainable cities.
Resilient to climate change
Cities are increasingly vulnerable to climate change. Although only comprising 2% of Earth’s surface area, cities contribute 70% of greenhouse gas emissions and experience major negative consequences from rising temperatures such as flooding, heat waves, landslides and air pollution.
Sustainably designed urban infrastructure must take climate risks into account when planning. This requires using cutting-edge science to investigate likely conditions throughout a project’s lifetime, while avoiding high risk areas like floodplains or the wildland-urban interface.
As another means of creating resilient infrastructure, nature-based solutions (NbS) and green infrastructure (GI) offer another avenue. Portland has implemented numerous sustainability measures sourced largely from renewable energy sources as well as public bike lanes; this not only reduces emissions but also provides other co-benefits like carbon sequestration, improved water and air quality and habitat for endangered species.
Healthy and safe
Urban infrastructure systems often have an enormous effect on health and wellbeing, yet their effects are often unevenly distributed. For instance, traffic infrastructure may contribute to poor air quality and traffic-related injuries while energy-efficient buildings and renewable energy supplies could improve wellbeing by reducing waste and pollution levels.
Sustainable development seeks to shift the balance towards health-enhancing impacts by adopting practices which lower energy consumption, waste and emissions while revitalizing public spaces and supporting non-motorized transport options.
One way of doing this is through creating green or natural infrastructure (NBI). NBI includes ecosystems that offer flood protection, water filtration and temperature regulation services as well as engineered “grey” structures that combine nature with function. Understanding how NBI interacts with other forms of urban infrastructure is vital as its effects can sometimes conflict; for instance urban trees may shade power lines to reduce heat-related efficiency losses or use less fossil fuel to generate electricity but may damage overhead utilities in storm events.
Affordability
Sustainable infrastructure costs may seem prohibitively expensive at first, particularly in cities with tight budgets. But it is essential to view them from an extended view: urban sustainable infrastructure is designed to gradually lower operational expenses over time through measures such as reduced energy usage and maintenance requirements.
Furthermore, resilient sustainable infrastructure to climate change and extreme weather events can further lower long-term costs by reducing costly repairs and recovery efforts – one reason many city officials pursue nature-based infrastructure (NBI).
NBI provides cost-effective and climate-resilient infrastructure services at an economical cost, providing citizens with multiple co-benefits from health to economic to social equity and community engagement. Furthermore, using local or recycled materials reduces construction and transportation costs as well as financial incentives from governments or international organizations for implementation in cities.