TY - JOUR
T1 - A green infrastructure spatial planning model for evaluating ecosystem service tradeoffs and synergies across three coastal megacities
AU - Meerow, Sara
N1 - Funding Information:
Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the . Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. National Science Foundation https://doi.org/10.13039/100000001 CBET-1444745 American Association of Geographers https://doi.org/10.13039/100010262 Human Dimensions of Global Change Specialty Group Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan https://doi.org/10.13039/100006801 International Travel Award University of Michigan https://doi.org/10.13039/100007270 Menakka and Essel Bailey Graduate Fellowship yes � 2019 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
PY - 2019/12/16
Y1 - 2019/12/16
N2 - A growing number of cities are investing in green infrastructure to foster urban resilience and sustainability. While these nature-based solutions are often promoted on the basis of their multifunctionality, in practice, most studies and plans focus on a single benefit, such as stormwater management. This represents a missed opportunity to strategically site green infrastructure to leverage social and ecological co-benefits. To address this gap, this paper builds on existing modeling approaches for green infrastructure planning to create a more generalizable tool for comparing spatial tradeoffs and synergistic 'hotspots' for multiple desired benefits. I apply the model to three diverse coastal megacities: New York City, Los Angeles (United States), and Manila (Philippines), enabling cross-city comparisons for the first time. Spatial multi-criteria evaluation is used to examine how strategic areas for green infrastructure development across the cities change depending on which benefit is prioritized. GIS layers corresponding to six planning priorities (managing stormwater, reducing social vulnerability, increasing access to green space, improving air quality, reducing the urban heat island effect, and increasing landscape connectivity) are mapped and spatial tradeoffs assessed. Criteria are also weighted to reflect local stakeholders' desired outcomes as determined through surveys and stakeholder meetings and combined to identify high priority areas for green infrastructure development. To extend the model's utility as a decision-support tool, an interactive web-based application is developed that allows any user to change the criteria weights and visualize the resulting hotspots in real time. The model empirically illustrates the complexities of planning green infrastructure in different urban contexts, while also demonstrating a flexible approach for more participatory, strategic, and multifunctional planning of green infrastructure in cities around the world.
AB - A growing number of cities are investing in green infrastructure to foster urban resilience and sustainability. While these nature-based solutions are often promoted on the basis of their multifunctionality, in practice, most studies and plans focus on a single benefit, such as stormwater management. This represents a missed opportunity to strategically site green infrastructure to leverage social and ecological co-benefits. To address this gap, this paper builds on existing modeling approaches for green infrastructure planning to create a more generalizable tool for comparing spatial tradeoffs and synergistic 'hotspots' for multiple desired benefits. I apply the model to three diverse coastal megacities: New York City, Los Angeles (United States), and Manila (Philippines), enabling cross-city comparisons for the first time. Spatial multi-criteria evaluation is used to examine how strategic areas for green infrastructure development across the cities change depending on which benefit is prioritized. GIS layers corresponding to six planning priorities (managing stormwater, reducing social vulnerability, increasing access to green space, improving air quality, reducing the urban heat island effect, and increasing landscape connectivity) are mapped and spatial tradeoffs assessed. Criteria are also weighted to reflect local stakeholders' desired outcomes as determined through surveys and stakeholder meetings and combined to identify high priority areas for green infrastructure development. To extend the model's utility as a decision-support tool, an interactive web-based application is developed that allows any user to change the criteria weights and visualize the resulting hotspots in real time. The model empirically illustrates the complexities of planning green infrastructure in different urban contexts, while also demonstrating a flexible approach for more participatory, strategic, and multifunctional planning of green infrastructure in cities around the world.
KW - Ecosystem services
KW - Green infrastructure
KW - Megacities
KW - Spatial planning
KW - Urban resilience
KW - Urban sustainability
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U2 - 10.1088/1748-9326/ab502c
DO - 10.1088/1748-9326/ab502c
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85079684345
SN - 1748-9318
VL - 14
JO - Environmental Research Letters
JF - Environmental Research Letters
IS - 12
M1 - 125011
ER -