Sustainable urban infrastructure is an emerging and expanding field that encompasses engineering, economic, and social sciences. Leading research themes include governance, engineered facilities and utilities management, climate change adaptation/mitigation strategies and municipal waste disposal.
Urban nature should be fully integrated into city planning, project evaluation and financing strategies to maximize societal impacts and the delivery of ecosystem services such as:
Water
Water is essential to life and urban development, and sustainable infrastructure must address its management in order to provide safe drinking water supplies and avoid flooding as well as environmental degradation.
Experts are now employing more holistic strategies that extend beyond engineerered facilities and utilities, including their urban resources metabolism and citizen needs incorporation in infrastructure designs, as well as finding ways to better protect cities against natural disasters resulting from climate change.
One approach is “green infrastructure,” which utilizes natural and semi-natural elements like forests, parks, wetlands, green roofs, street trees and permeable pavements to deliver ecosystem services like absorbing stormwater runoff, mitigating urban heat loads, improving air quality and providing habitat for wildlife. Furthermore, green infrastructure reduces flood risk, improves groundwater recharge rates and provides other advantages; typically being less costly and more resilient against climate change than traditional grey infrastructure solutions.
Energy
Sustainable urban infrastructure seeks to combat global warming and municipal waste through innovative practices in building, energy, transportation and water management. The objective is to reach maximum efficiency with minimum resource use and environmental impacts while fulfilling future generations’ needs without jeopardizing current residents’ wellbeing.
Green infrastructure uses plants, trees, and other natural vegetation to absorb rainwater, mitigate urban heat, improve air quality, provide habitat for wildlife in nature-starved cities, as well as create vegetated roofs, street trees, rain gardens, bioswales and permeable pavement systems to do just this. Such strategies also reduce stormwater runoff reaching sewers, streams, rivers lakes and oceans thus reducing flood risk while cutting pollution levels – thus saving money and saving the planet in the process!
Cities that invest in sustainable urban infrastructure can give their citizens a higher quality of life. Benefits may range from cooler air or cleaner water, physical activity and relaxation opportunities in nature or reduced stress levels and improved mental wellbeing – these all add up to an enhanced quality of life for everyone involved.
Transportation
Sustainable urban infrastructure development involves striking a balance between energy costs and environmental impacts, such as public transport accessibility and cost efficiency, greener transportation options such as walking or biking trails and encouraging carpooling, water conservation programs, waste reduction strategies such as recycling materials etc. To create this environment-friendly infrastructure is imperative.
Rapid urbanization can create air pollution, diminish green space and heighten natural disaster risk. Green infrastructure uses natural vegetation in city spaces to alleviate these impacts and promote community health; examples include parks, wetlands, green roofs and stormwater management systems.
Civil engineers are leaders in creating sustainable urban infrastructure. Their expertise includes creating energy-efficient buildings and eco-friendly transportation systems. As a result of their work, 3.7 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide will be offset annually – this truly benefits us all!
Waste
Cities are home to most of the global population and serve as key battlegrounds in terms of environmental sustainability. Cities lead innovation in clean energy, water, transportation and waste management technologies while simultaneously creating jobs with an eco-friendly focus and offering access to public spaces conducive to healthy lifestyles. They can influence national and international policies for sustainable development.
Urban areas have long been plagued by pollution from runoff, as water carries pollutants from impervious surfaces into drains, sewers and waterways. One solution is building permeable green infrastructure which allows stormwater to soak into the ground (replenish groundwater supplies), evaporate into the atmosphere via evapotranspiration or be reused by tapping into existing systems.
Jenfelder Au, in Hamburg, Germany is an innovative example of this, featuring residential buildings that are equipped with plumbing to separate greywater (from washing machines, bath tubs and kitchen sinks) from blackwater (only for toilets). Treated greywater from these sources can then be reused within homes for flushing toilets or similar purposes; alternatively it may be utilized by rain gardens and wetlands to mitigate flooding risk.