URBAN GREEN

INFRASTRUCTURE

CLIMATE
CHANGE AND
URBAN GREEN
TABLE OF
CONTENT
MAINTENANCE: KEEPING
0 INTRODUCTI 0
GREEN SYSTEMS ALIVE AND
ON
1 8 EFFECTIVE
CLIMATE CHANGE AND REPAIRING AND RETROFITTING:
02 URBAN GREEN
09 TREATING GREEN
INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTURE AS LIVING
HOW GREEN SYSTEMS
FIXING AND IMPROVING GREEN
03 10
INFRASTRUCTURE HELPS INFRASTRUCTURE WHEN THINGS
WITH CLIMATE PROBLEMS GO WRONG
TYPES OF URBAN NEW YORK CITY, USA
04 GREEN
11 – THE HIGH LINE
INFRASTRUCTURE
CHALLENGES IN MEDELLÍN,
05 USING GREEN
12 COLOMBIA –
INFRASTRUCTURE GREEN CORRIDORS
IMPLEMENTATION OF ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA –
PROJECT
06 URBAN GREEN
13 SHEGER RIVER AND
INFRASTRUCTURE BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT
CLIMATE CHANGE AND
07 URBAN GREEN
INFRASTRUCTURE
Urban green infrastructure

INTRODUCT
ION
What is UGI?
• UGI uses trees, parks, green roofs, and
gardens to address urban environmental
issues like air pollution, flooding, and heat.
UGI: A Key Solution for Climate
How UGI Helps Cities: Change
• Reduces urban heat (Urban Heat Island effect)
• Absorbs carbon dioxide • Why It’s Important:
• Manages rainwater
• Creates healthier, cooler urban spaces ⚬ Helps cities adapt to climate change
• Protects cities from extreme weather ⚬ Acts as a buffer against extreme weather events
⚬ Reduces emissions and boosts climate resilience
Urban green infrastructure

Climate Change & Urban Impact

• Climate Change: Long-term shifts from human activities (e.g., burning
fossil fuels, deforestation).
• Cities: Frontlines of climate change, high population density, and
emissions
• Recent Examples:
⚬ India Heat Wave (2025)
⚬ Queensland Flooding (2025)

Urbanization’s Impact on Climate

• Urban Heat Island Effect
• Altered Precipitation & Wind Patterns
• Increased Air Pollution & Energy Demand
• Water Management Challenges & Loss of Green Spaces
• Vulnerability to Extreme Weather & Social Inequities

CLIMATE Green Infrastructure’s Climate Benefits

CHANGE AND •
•
•
Climate Mitigation:
Flood Prevention & Water Management
Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services

URBAN GREEN
• Human Health & Resilience
• Cost-Effective & Future-Proof
Urban green infrastructure

HOW GREEN
INFRASTRUCTURE HELPS
WITH CLIMATE PROBLEMS
Green infrastructure is a strategic, adaptive, and
multifunctional approach to addressing climate change. Unlike
rigid, costly traditional infrastructure, green infrastructure
delivers both environmental and social resilience.

• Absorbs CO₂ – Vegetation acts as carbon sinks,

reducing greenhouse gases.
• Cools Cities – Trees and green roofs reduce heat
and lower urban temperatures.
• Manages Floods – Permeable surfaces slow and
filter rainwater.
• Supports Biodiversity – Maintains urban
ecosystems and wildlife.
• Boosts Health – Reduces stress, cools spaces, and
strengthens social resilience.
• Saves Costs – Lower maintenance, energy savings,
and long-term climate adaptability.
Urban green infrastructure

Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) refers to natural

and semi-natural systems built into city design.
These features—like trees, green roofs, and
wetlands—help cities adapt to climate change by
reducing heat, managing stormwater, and
improving air quality, all while supporting
biodiversity and public health

• Green Roofs & Walls: Absorb rainwater, reduce

runoff, and cool buildings.
• Urban Forests & Street Trees: Provide shade,
store carbon, and cool urban areas.
• Parks & Green Spaces: Permeable surfaces that

TYPES OF URBAN
reduce flood risks and regulate temperature.
• Bioswales & Rain Gardens: Capture and filter
stormwater, reducing flood risks.
• Wetlands: Natural flood buffers and water

GREEN
quality maintainers.
• Permeable Pavements & Green Streets: Allow
water infiltration, reducing runoff and flooding.
 Urban green infrastructure

Despite its proven benefits, cities face key obstacles in

implementing urban green infrastructure (UGI) effectively: • Maintenance Issues
⚬ Ongoing care (e.g., pruning, cleaning,
• Financial Barriers repairs) is underfunded, risking infrastructure
⚬ High initial costs and political short-termism limit failure.
investment, despite long-term savings. • Social Inequities
• Poor Urban Integration ⚬ UGI is unevenly distributed; risks include
⚬ UGI is often treated as decorative rather than "green gentrification" and community
essential, leading to fragmented and ineffective displacement.
systems. • Climate Uncertainty
• Institutional & Governance Gaps ⚬ Designing for unpredictable weather requires
⚬ Lack of coordination among stakeholders and limited
flexible, adaptive systems—historical data no
ecological expertise in urban planning teams.
longer suffices.

CHALLENGES
IN USING
GREEN
Urban green infrastructure

IMPLEMENTATION
Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) is crucial for enhancing climate
resilience in cities, providing solutions like stormwater
management, cooling, and improved biodiversity. To maximize

OF URBAN GREEN
these benefits, UGI must be thoughtfully integrated into urban
environments through strategic planning and collaboration
across sectors.

• Integrating UGI into Urban Planning: Successful cities like

Singapore and Copenhagen embed green infrastructure into core
INFRASTRUCTURE
planning, using GIS, climate assessments, and heat-island models
to optimize impact.
• Designing Across Scales: UGI is most effective as a connected
system:
⚬ Macro: Ecological corridors and tree-lined streets
⚬ Meso: Community parks and permeable pavements
⚬ Micro: Green roofs and rain gardens
• Starting Small: Pilots and Phased Expansion: Cities test UGI with
small pilot projects (e.g., Philadelphia’s Green City, Clean Waters),
refining designs and gaining community buy-in.
• Climate-Aware Design: UGI is data-driven, using climate
vulnerability and social equity mapping (e.g., Rotterdam), and
adaptive engineering for long-term resilience.
• Collaboration and Policy: Successful UGI requires cross-sector
partnerships—government regulations, private sector innovation,
and research institutions.
Urban green infrastructure

MAINTENANCE:
KEEPING GREEN
SYSTEMS ALIVE
AND EFFECTIVE
Sustainable green infrastructure requires more than initial
installationit demands consistent, well-planned maintenance. • Plan for maintenance from the start, including
Without long-term strategies and funding, systems often deteriorate budgeting and performance-based contracts.
over time. Leading cities like Melbourne incorporate ongoing upkeep • Involve communities through stewardship programs to
into their climate adaptation plans, while others engage communities improve care and ownership.
and adopt smart technologies to maintain performance and reduce • Use technology such as sensors, drones, and
costs. predictive analytics to monitor and maintain systems
efficiently
Urban green infrastructure

Green infrastructure systems are dynamic Common Causes of System

and can degrade over time from neglect, Failure
environmental stress, or inadequate
design. Rather than viewing failure as a • Clogged bioswales that lose
setback, leading cities treat repairs as drainage capacity
opportunities to adapt and improve. • Tree decline due to poor soil
Regular monitoring and responsive or drought
retrofitting are essential to sustain long- • Eroded rain gardens with
term climate resilience. reduced infiltration

REPAIRING AND Strategies for Adaptive Retrofitting

RETROFITTING: • Replace vulnerable plants with

drought-tolerant species

TREATING GREEN • Enhance soil and drainage layers to

support extreme weather
• Integrate performance data into

INFRASTRUCTURE AS upgrade planning

Urban green infrastructure

FIXING AND IMPROVING

GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
WHEN THINGS GO WRONG
Key Strategies for Fixing and Improving UGI
Urban green infrastructure (UGI) is dynamic and can face
challenges such as drought, floods, vandalism, or wear and • Diagnosing failures: Regular audits and
tear. The true resilience of a city’s green infrastructure is not performance metrics to identify issues.
just in its creation but in its ability to adapt and recover over • Feedback loops: Routine inspections, digital
time. Effective repair and improvement strategies ensure
tracking, and community reporting for early
that these systems continue to serve their climate and social
detection.
roles, with lessons learned from cities like Addis Ababa
• Adaptive management: Redesign UGI for better
resilience (e.g., upgrading soils, swapping plants).
• Funding and governance: Establish repair
budgets, dedicated units, and public-private
partnerships.
• Community engagement: Involve locals in repairs
through programs like “green fix days.”
• Building resilience: Make repairs that improve
resilience, such as rainwater harvesting and modular
elements.
 Urban green infrastructure

Adaptive Reuse and Design Environmental

Innovation Benefits and Climate
Resilience
• Elevated linear park repurposing a
defunct railway on Manhattan’s West • Reduces heat island effect
Side and cools urban
• Features over 500 plant species (50% microclimates
native), preserving original rail tracks • Manages stormwater
and steel structures through permeable surfaces
• Designed by James Corner Field and drip irrigation
Operations, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, • Absorbs 1.3+ tons of CO₂
and Piet Oudolf annually and improves air
quality

NEW YORK
CITY, USA – THE Social and Cultural Impact

HIGH LINE
• Publicly accessible green space linking neighborhoods
• Boosts health, well-being, and tourism
• Symbol of urban transformation and biophilic design
Urban green infrastructure

Green Infrastructure Social Inclusion and Results and Urban

Strategy Economic Transformation
Opportunity
• Transformed 18+ polluted • Surface temperatures
corridors with over 380,000 • Employed locals as reduced by up to 2°C
plants and 8,000+ trees “Green Guardians” for • Improved air quality
• Created micro-forests using planting and and public space
native species to provide maintenance accessibility
shade, biodiversity, and • Focused on low-income • Reinvented Medellín’s
pollution mitigation and high-traffic areas, identity from violence
prioritizing equity to sustainability

MEDELLÍN,
COLOMBIA –
GREEN
Urban green infrastructure

River and Landscape Urban Resilience and

Rehabilitation Recreation

• Ongoing restoration of 56+ km of • Stormwater management

riverfront (e.g., Kebena and Big Akaki) integrated to reduce
• Includes parks, walkways, erosion seasonal flooding
control, and native riparian vegetation • Enhanced aesthetics and
walkability in areas like
Entoto Park

ADDIS ABABA, Challenges and

Opportunities

ETHIOPIA – SHEGER • Gains in tourism and civic pride

• Needs stronger water quality

RIVER AND
management and inclusion of
informal settlements
• A promising model for urban

BEAUTIFICATION
greening in African megacities
Urban green infrastructure

THANK