Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Huston Gibson / Green infrastructure is an emerging concept which utilizes vegetated systems rather than traditional gray infrastructure for stormwater management. Conducting a literature review revealed the effectiveness of incentive based planning, the benefits of green infrastructure, information on bioswales and wetlands, stormwater management, Portland, and planning implementation strategies. Portland, Oregon, was selected as the area of study because of its widespread application of green infrastructure. Seeking to understand the reasoning behind the implementation of this atypical civic infrastructure, existing policies in the city’s Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Code were analyzed. A policy analysis was conducted through itemizing the relevant policies in the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Code. Additionally, six in-depth phone interviews were conducted with Portland base planning-related professionals utilizing a snowball sampling technique to qualitatively understand the policies and circumstances that enabled the implementation of the city’s bioswales and wetlands. Findings were revealed through using the grounded theory methodology of coding and memoing to analyze the responses from the interviews. According to the policy itemization and phone interviews, the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code were not the reasons for Portland’s green infrastructure implementation, as hypothesized. Instead, green infrastructure was evident due to a need for compliance with the U.S Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act, and a resulting Stormwater Management Manual created by the city. Additionally, other reasons for implementation included strong leaders, active citizens, and incentives and grants. The city encountered several challenges with implementation including costs, a technical lack of information, and opposition from members against using green infrastructure, which were all ultimately overcome. Lessons learned from this case study of Portland point to four policy recommendations for other cities wanting to implement green infrastructure to help alleviate pollution and flooding: the need for design having a general Comprehensive Plan and detailed Stormwater Management Manual, experimentation to generate and monitor data, collaboration, and funding.

Sustainability has been touted as an ideal in city and environmental planning in recent decades, evolving to include environmental, economic, and equity-focused goals. While much has been written about these ideals, it remains unclear how their inherent tensions and challenges affect planning practice. This thesis analyzes these goals as they are perceived and prioritized in The Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, a regional water management plan released by Waggonner and Ball Architects in September 2013, utilizing interviews with architects involved in the plan’s development, staff at agencies involved in green infrastructure implementation, and advocacy groups involved in and affected by the plan’s implementation. I argue for the creation of a planning infrastructure that would promote a broader view of the array of green infrastructure’s potential environmental, economic, and social benefits, as well as for an increased focus on equity in green infrastructure planning and implementation.

Increasing human populations results in fast-growing urbanization. Natural and semi-natural landscapes are replaced with urban landscape features like roads, sidewalks, industrial and residential buildings. The remnants of the natural landscapes are left fragmented and are often managed by frequent mowing and trimming of the vegetation. This development has had a negative impact on pollinators such as bees and wasps. Bees and wasps are pollinating insects providing an ecosystem service that sustain the global food supply. Pollinators are important also in urban landscapes where their services are needed for ecological stability and biodiversity. This study compares 23 locations in Sollentuna municipality, to investigate if species richness and abundance of bees and wasps are correlated with local factors, landscape factors or both. The available food resources are measured in buffer zones with 200m radius. Local variables are: dead wood, exposed sand, extended edge zones, flowering plant species richness and unmanaged habitat. The result showed that the landscape factor of food availability was more important for the abundance of pollinators while local variables together with the landscape factor of food availability had a positive effect on the species richness.

Embora relativamente recente, a noção de Infraestrutura Verde, isto é, a ideia de que paisagem é algo fundamental para o bom funcionamento da Cidade, vem sendo amplamente aceita nos campos da arquitetura da paisagem e urbanismo. No entanto, a sua aplicação em áreas densamente urbanizadas carece de métodos adequados, uma vez que o conceito surgiu como crítica a um contexto muito diferente e específico, o espraiamento norte-americano pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial. Este trabalho investiga a aplicação da Infraestrutura Verde na microbacia do Água Preta, área drenada por um dos muitos córregos ocultos da cidade de São Paulo e que apresenta muitos dos problemas típicos de áreas muito adensadas: alta taxa de impermeabilização, ilhas de calor, erradicação da cobertura vegetal original, radical alteração hidrológica, enchentes, carência de áreas verdes e precariedade dos sistemas de mobilidade e serviços públicos. Como método para aplicação, foi proposta uma adaptação no zoneamento ambiental desenvolvido por Schutzer a partir da clássica análise geomorfológica de Ab\'Saber. É apresentado um plano com diretrizes para que os processos naturais convivam com a ocupação dessa bacia hidrográfica. O córrego da Água Preta, hoje sinônimo de enchentes, transforma-se assim em eixo estruturador do desenvolvimento da região. / Although relatively new , the concept of Green Infrastructure, the idea that landscape is key to the proper functioning of the City, has been widely accepted in the fields of landscape architecture and urbanism . However, its application in densely urbanized areas lacks adequate methods, since the concept emerged as critical to a very different and specific context, the US spreading after the Second World War. This research investigates the application of Green Infrastructure in the Água Preta´s watershed, area drained by one of the many hidden streams of São Paulo and which features many of the typical problems of very compactly areas: high rate of waterproofing, heat islands, loss of original vegetation, hydrological radical change, floods, shortage of green areas and precarious mobility and utility systems. As a method of application, proposed an adaptation of environmental zoning developed by Schutzer from the classical geomorphological analysis of Ab\'Saber. A plan with guidelines for harmonization of natural processes with the occupation of this watershed is displayed. The Água Preta stream, now synonymous of floods, thus becomes a structural axis to the development of the region.

Embora relativamente recente, a noção de Infraestrutura Verde, isto é, a ideia de que paisagem é algo fundamental para o bom funcionamento da Cidade, vem sendo amplamente aceita nos campos da arquitetura da paisagem e urbanismo. No entanto, a sua aplicação em áreas densamente urbanizadas carece de métodos adequados, uma vez que o conceito surgiu como crítica a um contexto muito diferente e específico, o espraiamento norte-americano pós-Segunda Guerra Mundial. Este trabalho investiga a aplicação da Infraestrutura Verde na microbacia do Água Preta, área drenada por um dos muitos córregos ocultos da cidade de São Paulo e que apresenta muitos dos problemas típicos de áreas muito adensadas: alta taxa de impermeabilização, ilhas de calor, erradicação da cobertura vegetal original, radical alteração hidrológica, enchentes, carência de áreas verdes e precariedade dos sistemas de mobilidade e serviços públicos. Como método para aplicação, foi proposta uma adaptação no zoneamento ambiental desenvolvido por Schutzer a partir da clássica análise geomorfológica de Ab\'Saber. É apresentado um plano com diretrizes para que os processos naturais convivam com a ocupação dessa bacia hidrográfica. O córrego da Água Preta, hoje sinônimo de enchentes, transforma-se assim em eixo estruturador do desenvolvimento da região. / Although relatively new , the concept of Green Infrastructure, the idea that landscape is key to the proper functioning of the City, has been widely accepted in the fields of landscape architecture and urbanism . However, its application in densely urbanized areas lacks adequate methods, since the concept emerged as critical to a very different and specific context, the US spreading after the Second World War. This research investigates the application of Green Infrastructure in the Água Preta´s watershed, area drained by one of the many hidden streams of São Paulo and which features many of the typical problems of very compactly areas: high rate of waterproofing, heat islands, loss of original vegetation, hydrological radical change, floods, shortage of green areas and precarious mobility and utility systems. As a method of application, proposed an adaptation of environmental zoning developed by Schutzer from the classical geomorphological analysis of Ab\'Saber. A plan with guidelines for harmonization of natural processes with the occupation of this watershed is displayed. The Água Preta stream, now synonymous of floods, thus becomes a structural axis to the development of the region.

O presente trabalho propõe uma nova estratégia de planejamento da paisagem urbana para aquisição de novas áreas verdes, através da recuperação e restauração de áreas degradadas (locais vazios, abandonados e subutilizados). A urgência de intervenção e revitalização destas áreas tem sido foco de preocupação nos grandes centros urbanos, tanto em países desenvolvidos, como nos emergentes, uma vez que são espaços disfuncionais no tecido urbano. O estado de abandono e desinteresse leva a depreciação do entorno e facilita o uso à criminalidade e atividades ilícitas. A transformação das áreas degradadas em espaços vegetados visa transformar o problema em oportunidade, partindo do princípio de que as áreas verdes devam cumprir funções infraestruturais, ou seja, ser componente de uma paisagem de alta performance, contribuindo para a criação ou ampliação da infraestrutura verde urbana. O estudo de caso para aplicação desta nova estratégia foi parte da cidade de São Bernardo do Campo, na região metropolitana de São Paulo, Brasil, cujas diminutas áreas verdes urbanas acessíveis à comunidade são cada vez mais escassas, ao mesmo tempo em que há diversas áreas vazias e abandonadas, muitas em processo de regeneração natural, que são alvos do mercado imobiliário para residências, serviços e comércio. A partir desta temática, uma série de questões foi lançada: Quais áreas degradadas têm potencial para serem convertidas em áreas verdes? Quais são os critérios para avaliação deste potencial? Qual é o caráter vocacional destas futuras áreas verdes: ambiental ou social? Essas perguntas nortearam o desenvolvimento da pesquisa em busca de uma metodologia de planejamento paisagístico para aquisição de novas áreas verdes aplicada na cidade de São Bernardo do Campo. Assim, foi desenvolvida uma ferramenta de avaliação, que se utilizou de um sistema de informação geográfico, e está pautada nos princípios de infraestrutura verde, de forma a responder às questões ecológicas, de drenagem das águas, de mobilidade, e as questões sociais de atendimento à comunidade local. Os resultados mostraram que 40% das áreas amostrais avaliadas apresentaram potencial alto de conversão em áreas verdes, outros 40%, potencial médio e 20% restante, potencial baixo, apontando um cenário favorável para a maioria das áreas degradadas. Quanto ao seu uso vocacional, 50% apresentam potencial de uso predominantemente social, 20% ambiental e 30% social e ambiental. A classificação por vocação de uso das áreas verdes (social ou ambiental) é um dado importante, uma vez que aponta áreas com potencial inferior e que não devem ser descartadas, pois tem um valor social importante. Os resultados têm por finalidade auxiliar nas tomadas de decisão preliminar do planejamento urbano ambiental, oferecendo subsídios aos profissionais da área na proposição criteriosa de novas áreas verdes urbanas. / This research proposes an urban landscape planning strategy for the acquisition of new green areas, through the reclamation of vacant, derelict and underused lands. Authorities in large urban centers, both in developed and emerging countries, have been concerned in these sites, once they are dysfunctional areas in the urban fabric. The carelessness and indifference has led to depreciation of the surrounding and facilitates the increase of crime. Greening derelict, vacant and underused lands can transform a problem into an opportunity, assuming that green spaces must fulfill infrastructural functions, as part of a landscape of high performance, seeking the creation or expansion of an urban green infrastructure. The case study to apply this strategic planning approach was Sao Bernardo do Campo city, in Sao Paulo Metropolitan area, Brazil, whose the tiny accessible green areas to the community are increasingly scarce, while there are many vacant, derelict and underused lands, under natural regeneration process, that are acquired for real estate market instead of creation of new greenspaces. From this point view, a series of questions were made: Which vacant, derelict and underused lands have the potential to be reclaimed into green areas? What are the criteria to evaluate this potential? Which the main role and potential use of the green area: social or environmental use? These questions guided the research in the development of a landscape planning methodology to acquire new green areas in São Bernardo do Campo. An assessment tool, using GIS and based on green infrastructure concept was developed, so that derelict and vacant lands could meet ecological, stormwater management, mobility and social issues. The results showed that 40% of the sample sites presented high potential to reclaim into green areas, 40%, medium potential and 20%, have low potential, revealing a favorable scenario for most vacant and derelict lands. Regarding the role and use of the green area, 50% have a predominantly social potential use, 20% environmental potential use, and 30% presents both potentials. This classification (social and/or environmental) is an important point, since it identifies those areas that, despite have lower potential, should not be discarded because it has an important social value. The results should assist a preliminary environmental and urban planning decision making, offering support to professionals to insightful creation of new urban green areas.

Les ouvrages de biofiltration, systèmes végétalisés conçus pour le stockage, la filtration et éventuellement l’infiltration de l’eau, peuvent contribuer à une meilleure maîtrise du flux polluant associé au ruissellement de voirie. La capacité de ce type de système à réduire les flux de macropolluants, tels que les matières en suspension (MES) et les nutriments, via une amélioration de la qualité de l’eau combinée à une réduction de son volume, est avérée. Cependant, le comportement de micropolluants dans ces systèmes reste relativement peu documenté. Ce travail de thèse s’intéresse donc à la rétention et le devenir de micropolluants dans un système de biofiltration des eaux de voirie. Il s’articule principalement autour du suivi in situ d’un panel diversifié de micropolluants caractéristiques des eaux de voirie (éléments traces métalliques ou ETM, hydrocarbures totaux, hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques ou HAP, BPA, alkylphénols, phatalates) et d’indicateurs globaux dans un accotement filtrant et une noue filtrante, situés en bordure d’une route départementale. Ce suivi comporte des mesures débit métriques et de qualité d’eau en continu, un travail d’échantillonnage et d’analyse du ruissellement brut et des eaux traitées par les deux ouvrages (dix-neuf événements pluvieux étudiés au cours d’un an et demi) et un travail d’échantillonnage et d’analyse du sol. Cette démarche est couplée à une caractérisation du substrat filtrant et des matériaux de construction en laboratoire et à une approche de modélisation stochastique pour évaluer le bilan de masse annuel de polluants dans la noue filtrante. Ce suivi démontre la capacité de la biofiltration à réduire de façon significative les concentrations totales en micropolluants à l’échelle de l’événement pluvial. Le traitement est particulièrement efficace pour les contaminants associés majoritairement aux MES, tels que le Zn, le Pb et les HAP pour lesquels la réduction médiane des concentrations événementielles (EC50) est supérieure à 90% dans les deux ouvrages. Pour le Cu, le Cr, le Ni et l’OP, les EC50 sont bonnes, supérieures à 70%. L’efficacité est moindre et plus variable pour les autres micropolluants organiques. Trois événements, caractérisés par une performance dégradée vis-à-vis des MES et des polluants particulaires, ont néanmoins été observés lors de l’application du sel de déverglaçage en hiver. La nature des particules indique que ce comportement soit dû à une mauvaise filtration de particules issues de la route, probablement liée à l’abondance exceptionnelle de particules fines (<10 µm) dans les eaux de voirie pendant cette période, combiné à une fissuration du substrat filtrant, menant à des écoulements préférentiels. La rétention de la phase dissoute des micropolluants est généralement moins efficace que celle de la phase particulaire ; des concentrations élevées ont notamment été observées pour certains micropolluants dissous (BPA, alkylphénols, phtalates) en sortie de la noue filtrante pendant les premiers mois de fonctionnement. Le transport des ETM dissous semble être facilité par leur association avec le carbone organique dissous ; ils sont aussi susceptibles d’être lixiviés à partir du sol contaminé ou des particules issues de la route. La rétention des micropolluants organiques dissous est limitée essentiellement par la contamination du substrat filtrant, dont l’origine est soit antérieure à son installation dans le biofiltre (cas des HAP), soit liée à des émissions de polluants depuis les matériaux de construction (cas probable pour BPA, OP, NP, DEHP).L’établissement du bilan de masse à l’échelle annuelle montre que l’abattement du flux polluant annuel est plus faible que l’EC50, du fait d’une surverse fréquente de l’ouvrage. Il met aussi en évidence l’ampleur des émissions de certains micropolluants organiques depuis les matériaux de construction de l’ouvrage, qui dépassent largement le flux polluant intercepté au cours de la première année / Biofiltration is a technique based on vegetated systems for the temporary storage, filtration and possible infiltration of runoff water close to the source, which may be used to manage pollutant loads associated with road runoff. The ability of this type of system to reduce loads of macropollutants, such as suspended solids and nutrients, both through the improvement of water quality and the reduction of its volume, has been established previously. However, the behavior of micropollutants in these systems remains relatively uncharacterized. The objective of the present work is to evaluate the retention and fate of micropollutants in a biofiltration system treating road runoff. It is principally focused on the in situ monitoring of a wide range of micropolltuants typical of road runoff (trace metals or TMs, total petroleum hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs, alkylphenols, BPA, phtalates) and global water quality parameters in two biofiltration systems located beside a highway: a vegetative filter strip and a biofiltration swale. This work involves continuous flow and water quality measurements, the sampling and analysis of runoff and infiltrated water drained from both systems (nineteen rain events over a year-and-a-half period) as well as the sampling and analysis of soil. These results are combined with a laboratory characterization of the filter media and biofilter construction materials and a stochastic modeling approach used to evaluate the annual mass balance of pollutants in the biofiltration swale. Field results highlight the ability of biofiltration to significantly reduce total concentrations of micropollutants at the event scale. Treatment is particularly effective for contaminants mainly associated with suspended solids, such as Zn, Pb and PAHs, for which median concentration reductions (EC50) exceeded 90% in both systems. EC50 observed for Cu, Cr, Ni and OP are also quite good, exceeding 70%. Treatment efficiency is lower and more variable for the other organic micropollutants. Three events, characterized by a degraded performance with respect to suspended solids and particulate pollutants, were, however, observed during a winter period when deicing salt was applied to road surfaces. Particle characteristics indicate that this behavior was due to the poor filtration of road-originated particles, probably due to an exceptional abundance of fine particles (<10 µm) in the road runoff during this period, in combination with the formation of preferential flows in the filter media due to cracking. The retention of dissolved-phase micropollutants is generally less effective than that of the particulate phase; in particular, elevated dissolved concentrations of several micropollutants (BPA, alkylphenols, phthalates) were observed during the first months of operation of the biofiltration swale. The transport of dissolved TMs appears to be facilitated by their association with dissolved organic carbon. These contaminants may also be leached from contaminated soil and road sediments. The retention of dissolved organic micropollutants is essentially limited by filter media contamination, which predates installation in the biofilter for PAHs and is attributed to pollutant emissions from construction materials for BPA, OP, NP and DEHP.In order to evaluate the systems’s ability to reduce pollutant loads and characterize the fate of pollutants in the filter media, a mass balance is evaluated at the annual scale for a selection of micropollutants. This work reveals that the reduction of pollutant loads is generally lower than the EC50 observed at the event scale due to the frequent overflow of water from the device. It also shows the significance of organic micropollutant emissions from biofiltration swale construction materials, which were much greater than the pollutant loads intercepted over the first year of operation

This thesis utilizes a distributed hydrologic model to predict hydrologic effects of Low Impact Development (LID), and also analyzes runoff from small sub-areas within the watershed. City planners and developers rely on accurate hydrologic models, which enable them to design flood-proof developments and effectively mitigate flooding downstream. Common hydrologic models use a lumped approach, which averages the physical characteristics of basins for model calculations, limiting their ability to estimate runoff within the basin. In contrast, distributed hydrologic models, which divide the watershed into a grid system, can be used to predict runoff at any location within the watershed. The fully distributed hydrologic model, VfloTM, is used to model stormwater runoff in The Woodlands, TX watershed, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the master planned community. This thesis also suggests that a calibrated VfloTM model can accurately predict stormwater runoff from small sub-areas within a watershed.

In the process of urbanization, the population and economy are rapidly growing. To achieve the demand of urbanization, natural areas are developed into construction areas in the city. Nature areas began to shrink and fragment, causing a great deal of damage, such as species extinction. The ability of nature to control the flood, adjust the rain, and filter pollution has been lost. This study is based on the city of Kaohsiung and Kaohsiung County. The study uses a large scale to re-examine the spatial structure of this area to propose an effective and reasonable planning policy for the environment and ecosystem. The study introduces the concept of green infrastructure to develop a green network system for the city. Green infrastructure is a network connecting natural areas and open spaces that can save ecological value and retain the ecosystem function. A green infrastructure network consists of hubs and links, and the network pattern can be made for different purposes. The study chose green land with an area of more than twenty hectares for the hubs and chose the terrestrial animal for the target species. The study uses the least-cost path analysis to plan the links for the terrestrial animal. The least-cost path, which is the path of least resistance when the terrestrial animal passes through the landscape. All the hubs generated 903 links. To create the green infrastructure networks, this study uses the gravity model to evaluate which corridor is the most important. Using the graph theory, the study developed three plans for a green infrastructure network to meet different demands: the Paul Revere, Traveling Salesman, and Least Cost to User networks. Planners can see different demands dictating the choice between different green infrastructure networks. Finally, the study discusses the three-network structure, finding the important hubs and links for the terrestrial animal. These areas should be protected to maintain the green infrastructure network.

Preliminary reconnaissance undertaken in summer 2013 identified the scale of stormwater management issues in Xiamen, having frequent storm events that overwhelm the stormwater and sewer infrastructure resulting in widespread flooding. This research explored the role that green facilities play in addressing stormwater issues through the inquiry of Low Impact Development strategies and techniques. From a long-term perspective, green infrastructure planning and implementation is inevitably linked with strong education programs, rational stormwater codes and regulations, a variety of financing and incentives, as well as an integrated and competent administration system. This research presents a design proposal for green infrastructure retrofit for a selected study block in the central area of Xiamen to help guide water sensitive urban design and development in the future. Seven recommendations based on the synthesis of the literature review, key-informant interviews, built-project studies and the retrofit design proposal are proposed. This document will be submitted to Xiamen Urban Planning & Design Institute for considerations to be integrated in city master planning policy and zoning codes and standards as needed and to inform a demonstration project to help advance long-term strategies and recommendations. / October 2015