Challenges of mainstreaming green infrastructure in built environment professions

TLDR

Green infrastructure is viewed as a promising climate‑adaptation tool, yet its benefits will not materialize until it is more fully integrated into built‑environment and design practices. The study interrogates five key challenges—design standards, regulatory pathways, socio‑economic considerations, financeability, and innovation—and proposes a people‑centred, context‑dependent approach to advance GI implementation. The authors conduct a literature review, analyze case studies, and interview resilience managers to examine these challenges. They identify political will and stakeholder engagement as the two underlying currents essential for addressing all challenges holistically. Highlights include that effective GI implementation is context‑specific, requires continuous community engagement, and that challenges are intersectional and cannot be tackled in isolation.

Abstract

Green infrastructure (GI) has been identified as a promising approach to help cities adapt to climate change through the provision of multiple ecosystem services. However, GI contributions to urban resilience will not be realized until it is more fully mainstreamed in the built environment and design professions. Here, we interrogate five key challenges for the effective implementation of GI: (1) design standards; (2) regulatory pathways; (3) socio-economic considerations; (4) financeability; and (5) innovation. Methods include a literature review, case studies, and interviews with resilience managers. We propose a people-centred and context-dependent approach to advance effective implementation of GI in urban planning. We highlight two underlying currents that run across all of the challenges – (1) the role of political will as a pre-condition for tackling all challenges holistically; and (2) the role of stakeholder engagement in achieving public support, harnessing funding, and maintaining and monitoring GI in the long term.Highlights:• The effective implementation of GI is context-specific and should adhere to the basic principles of appropriate technology.• Continuous community engagement is needed to ensure the inclusivity and multi-functionality of GI.• Challenges to successful GI are intersectional and therefore cannot be addressed singly in isolation.