The pervasive hard surfaces and lack of vegetation in many cities decreases the amount of rainfall that gets absorbed in the ground or evaporated by vegetation, which can increase flooding risk. With the anticipated changes in rainfall and storm patterns as climate change progresses, urban flooding events may become more frequent and severe.
The complexity of ecosystems, which are dynamic networks of organisms, processes, and habitats, is similar to the complexity and dynamism of cities. Emulating and restoring some of the natural hydrological processes of ecosystems could result in better, more resilient urban stormwater management systems and reduce urban flooding. This research uses an ecosystem services assessment tool, Nature Braid, to design an urban green infrastructure network for stormwater management in a city centre that more closely emulates natural hydrology processes.
The results showed that the majority of the city centre does not currently have or benefit from any permeable soils or vegetation that could help mitigate flooding. But, when green roofs were added, they resulted in a three-fold reduction of unmitigated flooding area for their sites and neighbourhoods. In the face of climate change, ecosystem-level biomimicry strategies, and tools like Nature Braid, can help designers and planners create more regenerative and resilient urban green infrastructure networks in cities.
The full article can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics8010009
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