A Green Infrastructure Guide for Small Cities, Towns and Rural Communities
The purpose of this Guide is to support small cities, towns and rural settlements with the integration of green infrastructure into their communities. Much of the current green infrastructure research and guidance focuses on densely populated urban centres. Smaller and rural settlements are often overlooked despite the many benefits that green infrastructure can provide in these settings. This Guide aims to fill that gap by providing an overview of the types of green infrastructure that make the most sense for these communities and by outlining a strategic zoning approach for implementation.
Green infrastructure is defined as natural vegetative systems and green technologies that collectively provide society with a multitude of environmental, social and economic benefits. The green technologies encompassed in this definition include porous pavements, rain barrels and cisterns, which replicate the functions of ecosystems, such as stormwater storage and filtration. Green infrastructure can contribute to the effective implementation of a range of policy areas, including climate action, water, health, agriculture, growth and disaster risk management. One of the key attractions of green infrastructure is its ability to perform several functions and provide several benefits in the same area, in contrast to its ‘grey’ infrastructure counterparts (e.g. sewers) which tend to be designed to perform only one function (e.g. drainage). This Guide is a communication and information resource. It provides high-level information about types and functions of green infrastructure and how they can be integrated into existing communities.
June 2017
Click here to download article as a PDF.
Other
Water Quality/Quantity, Stormwater Management, Infrastructure (green)
National
xGI_community, xGI
UFS
