Co-benefits of urban green stormwater infrastructure: Urban green infrastructure involving stormwater management and public health benefits

Abstract

Green stormwater infrastructure (GSWI) with careful design can not only manage stormwater runoff but also provide a range of co-benefits. Integrated planning of green infrastructure (GI) for stormwater management in urban areas can help to provide multiple benefits and contribute to healthier and livable communities. GI is also prominently featured in the contemporary urban ecological model and is considered fundamental for improving urban quality of life. On this ground, this literature review studies how health benefits are associated specifically with urban GSWIs and how these benefits can be maximised in urban areas. For which, this review with the selection of scientific articles addresses the following questions in comparison GIs. 1) What are the health co-benefits of urban GSWI? 2) Does the interaction and benefit associated with GSWIs limited to one particular type of urban physical setting or scale? 3) What are the various disciplinary research findings and the gaps associated to the promotion of health benefits of urban GSWIs? The studies on the evidence of benefits of GSWIs were discovered geographically biased towards the North American and European context, potentially contributing to a focus on certain types of settings and benefits. Although many types of benefits have been studied, benefits to active living have received much more attention than the reduction of stress, therapeutic healing, social capital and reduction of crime, and mental health and functioning, despite the potential for important consequences arising from the latter. In this review, although a small sample of sources and publications were consulted, the evidence for most benefits is correlational, and even though there are several experimental studies, little is known about the factors responsible for delivering these benefits. Moreover, these factors may vary in importance among cultures, geographic regions and socio-economic groups, for which a broader search of literature is needed. These are the key directions for future research in planning and/or designing GSWIs that would provide or proliferate the several associated co-benefits.