Urban green infrastructure

cities are a complex interaction of the natural and built elements. In order to maintain some degree of
balance in thenatural systems, we have to introduce engineered systems tocreate and transport energy,
to remove and process wastes, to controlstorm runoff, and so on. This article presents details that reflect
a re-thinking in our conventional engineering responses, seeking ways towork more closely with natural
processes to resolve some of the defi-ciencies and excesses that come with urban living. This approach
isdescribed by the term “green infrastructure.”

1 GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
The “green infrastructure” of a city is comprised of natural and de-signed systems and elements of the
city that function in ways analo-gous to natural processes in managing air, water, microclimatic andenergy
resources. The most obvious part of this infrastructure are trees,open spaces of vacant lots, lawns and
parks, and stream corridors, thatis, all places that have water-pervious surfaces and/or soil to
supportplant material. Because it imitates natural systems, “green structure” isholistic and includes
waterways and microclimatic systems that veg-etation, land and water bodies create—essentially those
parts of theurban system that are ecologically based (Fig. 1).The green infrastructure performs ecological,
recreational and aestheticfunctions in the city. It improves the quality of the urban environment,provides
access to natural habitats, avoids damage to the built form,and, in general, keeps all of us healthy,
Moreover, wise use and expan-sion of green structure is cost-efficient at both the individual
home/business level and for the municipality.

Air Quality Improvement

Vegetation reduces air pollution as it filters dust particles and pollut-ants attached to them (Fig. 2). For
example, the 1993 Chicago UrbanForest Climate Project, a study of the cleansing function of
Chicago’sforest, found that the forest “removed an estimated 17 tons of carbonmonoxide, 93 tons of
sulfur dioxide, 98 tons of nitrogen dioxide, 210tons of ozone, and 223 tons of fine particulate matter.”
(Hough,Benson and Evenson 1987). Trees also absorb carbon. In this study itwas estimated that the 11%
forest cover sequestered 155,000 tons ofcarbon each year.

Microclimate modif ication

Nonporous urban surfaces absorb and hold heat during warm weather,contributing to the “heat island
effect,” wherein temperatures can bebetween 8–10% hotter than the surrounding countryside.
Relativelyminor green projects can make a significant difference in both pollu-tion control and heat
reduction. An EPA Urban Heat Island Mitiga-tion Initiative study of Los Angeles suggested that increasing
greenspace by five percent in Los Angeles and replacing dark roofs and as-phalt with lighter surfaces
including green roofs, could lower overalltemperatures by 4°F—resulting in significant energy savings and
10%less smog. In other words, the green infrastructure of a city is a naturalair conditioner (cf. Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratory 2002). The greaterits coverage and canopy, the greater the benefits.If strategically
planted, trees serve as windbreaks, in part by lifting strongseasonal winds up and over the leeward
structures and by breakingdown strong wind patterns, important in winter cities where the chillfactor
greatly increases the sense of discomfort and the use of the out-door space. Further, winter wind is
responsible for drifting snow pat-terns. Vegetation can serve as shelterbelts if property designed, control-
ling where snow will accumulate.

Stormwater management
One of the most important benefits of the green infrastructure is innaturalizing the hydrological cycles in
a city. The hard surfaces of theurban fabric increase the intensity of the run-off and the amount
ofpollutants in urban waters. Instead of water soaking into the ground, ittravels quickly into storm
drainage systems that flow into rivers andstreams, causing increased flooding and erosion. The green
fabric, onthe other hands, absorbs the water at the source, recharging the ground-water, filtering
pollutants, and slowing down the energy of water travel.This improves water quality and, as a
nonstructural approach, is cost-effective.

Biodiversity
The urban environment is home to more than human beings, andone might argue that the more we
encourage wildlife in the city atappropriate places, the more varied and enriched will be the qualityof
daily life. A rich variety of birds and animals is an indicator of ahealthy environment. Wildlife in the city
moves through ripariancorridors along rivers and streams and large parks that have areas ofnative
vegetation. The health of these habitats, however, depends to alarge degree on their size and
connectivity—one of the reasons fordoing a green inventory of a city to locate significant areas for wild-
life habitat, sanctuaries and corridor links between natural conserva-tion systems.

One of the most visible and important functions of the green structureis for recreation, e.g., in addition
to using riparian corridors as floodand erosion control and habitat links, these are prime areas for
bicycletrails and nature hikes. Major parks, with large and diverse ecologicalsystems, provide parks for
active recreation and sports fields, but alsofor passive recreation, bird watching and school field trips for
scienceclasses. Each part of the urban green fabric should be considered as amulti-use structure (Figs. 3–
5)

Green infrastructure inventory

To take advantage of urban green infrastructure benefits, an inventorydocuments where the green spaces
of the city exist, what ecologicalsystems are there, and how they are connected. Land use
categoriesassist in researching the green structure, but their definitions and own-ership patterns are often
inadequate to generate a picture of the greensystems as an infrastructure.Land use categories that
contribute to the green infrastructure includeparks, waterways, cemeteries, church and school open
spaces, city farmsand community gardens, utility corridors, rail lines, quarries, vacantlands and even
brownfields, which need to be identified and hopefullyremediated. Small city lots, street trees and
backyards are also impor-tant. Street trees are an important part of the urban forest, but becauseof their
limited space, do not provide all of the functions of a greenspace. Backyards, as well, are very important
parts but because they areprivate and out of view are difficult to inventory.An aerial survey provides a
basis of an inventory and can be combinedwith windshield surveys and the generalized land use
analysis. Therough identification of such spaces does not necessarily yield informa-tion on the types or
quality of those environments, but gives a prelimi-nary indication of green areas and watersheds that
run through theurban fabric.Regulatory provisions exist for the preservation of green space such
assetbacks, easements, special review districts, public ownership, and soon. With an inventory, it is
possible to change certain planning, design,and construction patterns to increase the green structure at
the urbanand site scale. One of the main opportunities is in the management ofurban waters such as
stormwater management and stream corridorrestorations.Two complementary urban design
strategies—less paving and morevegetation—help increase the viability of the green infrastructure.

2 REDUCING PAVING

Hardscape paving has been implicated in a wide range of ecologi-cal problems. Most paving materials
create surface stability by ex-cluding water from the soil, and this impermeability causes a num-ber of
difficulties. Soil absorbs rainfall and nurtures flora, fauna, andhumans, but impervious surfaces increase
runoff, causing erosionand flooding, depleting soil water, and contributing to siltation andwater
pollution.Modern construction has created such vast nonporous areas that manycommunities are being
forced to limit the creation of new impervioussurfaces. This hardening of the landscape results in a net
reduction in

the biologically productive surface of the earth as areas of pavementreplace cornfields, meadows, forest,
or desert. Moreover, paving con-sumes non-renewable resources both in building the lots and in thefuel
required to truck the materials to the site. Asphalt, the material formost parking lots, is a complex mix of
hydrocarbons, the mixing andapplication of which is an air-polluting act in itself.Site planning policies can
help to avoid unnecessary paving. Someopportunities include:

 Density zoning. Local policy that uses overall density (a number ofunits per acre, or a percentage
of acreage devoted to structures) worksbetter than minimum lot sizes, because it allows flexible
adaptation tosite topography.

• Cluster development. Placing several buildings together sur-rounded by open space, rather than each
in the center of its separatelot, can greatly reduce infrastructure costs, including paving

.• Combined land uses. Zoning that allows residences and work-places to coexist makes walking, biking,
or public transit much easierfor workers. This is often a matter of removing barriers to coexistencefrom
existing zoning laws

.• Impervious surface limits. Set a maximum percentage of thesite area that can be impervious, This
must include both paved androofed areas, existing and new. Where this level is set to 10% or
lower,streams and other hydrological features of the area can be consideredprotected. Above 10%,
impacts are serious enough to require mitiga-tion; and where 30% of the area is impervious, degradation
of theecosystem is almost inevitable. In urban areas already far over thisthreshold, incentive programs
for reducing impervious cover can beeffective.

• Street width limits. Oversized roads also have negative effects ontraffic safety and diminish the quality
of life for communities throughwhich they pass. Current research shows that the real cause of
mostaccidents, and especially of serious injury accidents, is speed itself, andthat wide, straight, flat
roadways encourage drivers to speed

.• Planted islands in turnarounds. Paving the center of a turn-around is of no use to drivers and can be
replaced by permeable,planted surfaces as a matter of policy
.• Pollutant collector. These include paving at gas stations, carwashes, dumpster pads, and other point
sources of concentrated pol-lutants. Isolating runoff from contaminated sources keeps the flow
onordinary streets much cleaner

.• Storm drain inlet labeling. Knowledge of where pavement run-off goes can decrease public dumping
of pollutants onto pavement andinto drains.Parking areas are often designed to meet a single “peak day”
(or evenpeak hour) projection. To change this standard practice will requirecode changes. Therefore, the
ongoing goal of reducing the total amountof new parking is largely a task for local government.One
problem with conventional construction of parking lots is to re-quire clearing the site of trees and leveling
the landforms. A designapproach that is appropriate for forested and other sensitive sites is to

scatter the parking throughout the site. Not only does this approachrequire much less cutting of trees and
disturbance of the forest floor; itallows stormwater from the slender roadway and scattered parking
spacesto run directly onto the woodland floor (there are no curbs or gutters)and soak in.Furthermore, not
all parking areas need to be paved. In fact, manylightly used parking lots would be better (from a water-
quality stand-point) if they were surfaced with a more permeable material like gravel.No ground surface
should be any more impervious than necessary. Even if thepaving itself remains hard, approaches like
eliminating gutters and curbs,infiltrating stormwater in planted areas, or using porous pavement
canlegitimately be thought of as “softer” than conventional engineering(Figs. 6–10).

Bioswales
Beyond (or instead of) the curb, install grassed or vegetated areas calledbioswales—linear, planted
drainage channels (Fig. 10). A typical bioswalemoves stormwater runoff as slowly as possible along a
gentle incline,keeping the rain on the site as long as possible and allowing it to soakinto the ground—
contrary to conventional engineering practice. Atthe lowest point of the swale, there is usually a raised
drain inlet thatempties any overflow (during particularly heavy storms) into the near-est waterway. Along
with the infiltrating function, bioswales cleanserunoff via their plants and soil microbes.Bioswales function
particularly well in parking lots, which generaterunoff laden with pollutants that drip from cars and collect
on theparking lot surface. In addition to their decontamination functions,these bioswales create a place
for lush plantings amid the parked cars.Wetland plants—cattails, bulrushes, yellow iris, and others, mostly
na-tives—slow the water while biologically breaking down pollutants.Contaminants that escape this
gauntlet are captured in the topsoil,where soil microorganisms attack them. Thus filtered, the
stormwaterseeps through the subsoil into the underlying water table.

Porous paving materials

Another way to decrease the stormwater impacts of paving is to makethe pavement more permeable so
that infiltration occurs through thesurface of the paving itself (Fig. 11).

• Porous Asphalt and Porous Concrete. These are materialssimilar to those that go by a variety of
names: no-fines paving, pervi-ous paving, permeable paving, and percrete (for “percolating
concrete”).Stone aggregate is held together with either asphalt or Portland ce-ment as a binder; some
high-tech versions have used epoxies to bindthe stone. Porous paving is strong enough for parking
pedestrian use,and some road surfaces. In addition to its ecological advantages, porouspaving can save
construction, real estate, and maintenance costs, be-cause it doubles as a stormwater system and
eliminates storm drains. Itmay be twelve to thirty-eight percent cheaper overall.A second, greater savings
occurs where a porous paving reservoir sys-tem substitutes for open stormwater detention, retention, or
infiltra-tion basins. The land area otherwise required for the basins is freed forother uses. A third
advantage is reduced maintenance costs, particu-larly where snow removal is significant. Snow that falls
on porous pav-ing tends to melt quickly and drain into the pores. The size and depthof the reservoir must
be designed to fit site conditions: soil permeabil-ity, slope, and the local design storm

• Grass pavers. Grassed paving systems allow turf grass to growthrough an open cell of concrete or
plastic that transfers the weight ofvehicles to an underlying base course. According to one
manufacturer’sstudy, every 1,000 square feet of grass paving infiltrates nearly 7,000gallons per 10 inches
of rainfall, which would otherwise be runoff; con-verts enough carbon dioxide to oxygen to supply 22
adults for a year;provides cooling equivalent to 1.7 tons of air conditioning annually; and,in the case of
one manufacturer, recycles more than 400 pounds of plas-tic in the product itself. Grassed paving is
somewhat limited in its appli-cations because grass will not survive constant daily traffic.Three general
types of grassed paving systems exist: poured-in-plasticsystems such as Bormanite’s Grasscret™ consist
of steel reinforcedconcrete; precast concrete pavers that like poured-in-place concreteprovide rigid
structural support; and a large number of the availablesystems as recycled plastic pavers (Figs. 12 and 13).

• Unit Pavers. Another potentially permeable surface uses unit pavers(pavers set as individual pieces,
rather than a continuous sheet likepoured concrete). They must be laid on sand, crushed stone,
stonescreenings, or some other permeable material. Because the percolationactually takes place in the
joints between the pavers, the width and thematerial of the joints become critical.

• Use wide joints.

• Use thicker pavers to compensate for loss of rigidity, if necessary.

• Use permeable joint-filler materials.

• After initial installation, settling of the paving occurs; brush in morecoarse joint-filler materials, rather
than allow finer debris to accu-mulate and block the pore space.

• Where possible, leave joints lower than the walking surface.

• Make the base course beneath the pavers as coarse as possible toprevent water being retained in the
surface layer

• Do not compact the base course excessively.

• Cool asphalt with plants reflective surfaces. Conventionalparking lots, as noted earlier, are a major
contributor to the heat islandsin American cities. There are two ways of reducing the heat increasesfrom
paving. The first is to plant shade trees. The second approach is toincrease the reflectivity—measured by
the reflectivity index of al-bedo—of pavement and thus reduce its heat absorption capacity. As-phalt can
be lightened in several ways. One is to specify that the mixinclude light colored stone, both aggregate and
fines. Color coatingasphalt developed in large part as a decorative system but has promis-ing
environmental possibilities. These can give asphalt a surface of al-most any color, and when light colors
are used, they will make pavingless heat-absorptive.

3 URBAN VEGETATION
A corollary to the principle of minimizing urban hardscape is to re-place impervious surfaces with more
water absorbing materials. Oneof the most obvious is vegetation. This section will discuss some op-
portunities regarding vegetation

Trees
Trees are the most obvious part of the urban landscape, both in theirpresence and in their absence (Figs.
14-16), There has been resurgencein tree planting in urban environments, many of which were devas-
tated by the Dutch Elm disease. Moll and Young (1992) summarizethe economic worth of a tree. “A single
tree would provide this muchdollar value benefit for one year: air conditioning, $73; controllingerosion
and stormwater, $75; wildlife shelter, $75; and controlling airpollution, $50. The total is $273 a year.
Compounding this amount forfifty years at 5%, the grand total is $57,151.”Moreover, urban trees are
more valuable than their country cousinsbecause they enhance real estate. In some cases, the value of a
urban lotcan increase by twenty percent if it has trees, and on average the in-creased value is between
five and seven percent. Looked at nationally,this can add an extra $5000 per lot. In the same way that
trees create avalue for lots, they add value to neighborhoods in general—the Ameri-can dream is to live
on a tree-lined street.Landscape plants represent a significant financial investment, whetherpurchased
from a nursery, transplanted, or protected on-site. Healthyplants, and the construction that keeps them
that way, are essential tothe functional, ecological, and aesthetic success of a built landscape.

Tree planting standards

Inadequate planting structures, particularly ones with too little soilvolume, are the leading cause of an
epidemic of urban street treedeaths. The average life span of urban trees has been estimated to beas
short as two years, and few experts give them longer than tenyears. These are trees that could live fifty
years or more in suburbansettings or in the wild.A widely accepted minimum is 300 cu. ft. (1.4 cu m), that
is, a pit 10 ft.square ×3 ft. deep (approx. 3 m square × 1 m deep). This is much morethan many street trees
ever get, yet it is truly adequate only for treeswhose mature trunk Diameter-at-Breast-Height (DBH) is less
than 6in. (15 cm). For a 24 in. (60 cm) DBH tree, about 1,500 cu. ft. (about43 cu. m) of soil are
recommended—a pit about 22 × 22 ft. by 3 ft.deep (about 6.7 m square × 1 m deep). (Increased depth is
not of muchvalue to most plants, since root growth stays mainly in the top foot ofsoil.) This relationship
between the amount of tree canopy and theroot-supporting soil volume is critical in determining long-
term treehealth. Available root volume may be even less than it appears at thesurface. Utility lines
frequently run through tree pits; steam lines areparticularly lethal, but all utility lines steal space from
already inad-equate root volume.New standards of arboriculture have introduced two methods of de-
signing street-tree pits: the “continuous trench” structure and the “rootpath trench.”

• For the continuous trench structure, soil under pavement isdeliberately compacted for engineering
support of the sidewalk ortraffic lane. This subsoil creates a wall around the conventional pit,often as hard
as concrete. The continuous trench stretches from tree totree, under paving strengthened by
reinforcement. This design greatlyincreases the soil volume available to each tree. It also requires
slightlydifferent details of sidewalk construction, which any experienced con-tractor can readily learn.
Variations on the design are used for plazas,sidewalk plantings, and other urban situations.

• The root path trench system leads the roots out of the pit insmall radial trenches, about four inches
wide by twelve inches deep.Each trench contains a drainlike product, a plastic “waffle” corewrapped in
geotextile, which brings both water and air through thelength of the trench. Surrounded by good planting
soil, this air andwater source provides the conditions roots need to grow, and thus theroots follow the
trench. The surrounding soil must be good enoughfor them to spread eventually but does not need to be
replaced whole-sale with planting mix.The standard details for planting trees and shrubs have changed.
Inparticular, the recommended size and shape of planting holes havechanged. An older standard of “twice
the width of the root ball” isnow considered a minimum. In good soils, a shallow pit just 6 in. (15cm)
deeper than the root ball, but at least 6 ft. (1.8 m) wide, is nowpreferred. In poor, clayey, or compacted
soils, the minimum width ofthe pit increases dramatically, to 15 to 20 ft. (4.6 to 6 m) wide.The bottom
and sides of the pit must be roughened, so that existingand filled soil will bind together. Clay soils, in
particular, will “glaze”when dug, making a surface that stops roots as effectively as a pot andcreating
“virtual container” conditions. Soil for filling the pit shouldbe amended with compost or other organic
matter up to about fivepercent by weight. Making the soil too rich can discourage the rootsfrom leaving
the pit. Many experts now believe that staking and wrap-ping the trunk of trees should be avoided. Ideally,
the tree should beoriented in the same direction it was growing in the nursery.

Caution about planters, raised beds, and containers

Any plant grown in a container or planter is under more stress than isthe same species planted in the
ground. The limited soil volume in thecontainer tends to dry out, heat up, or freeze quickly and can
easilybecome waterlogged or deficient in nutrients. Containers are mostoften set on hard surfaces, which
stress the plant with excess heat.These stresses make container plants particularly hard to
sustain,whether in a plaza or a roof garden. Subjected to extremes of climate,plants that are also stressed
by undersized planting structures seldomsurvive (Figs. 17 and 18).

GreenwallsGreenwalls offer effective alternatives to conventional landscape re-taining walls of cast-

in-place concrete, metal, or wood (Fig. 19). Avegetated surface suits many functions and aesthetic
preferences: itdeadens and diffuses noise, makes graffiti impossible, cuts heat and glare,holds or slows
rainwater, traps air pollutants, and processes carbon di-oxide, while providing food and shelter for
wildlife. Most greenwallsuse small, light elements, installed without heavy equipment. Manyrequire
reduced materials, no formwork, and for some types no foot-ings, saving money and resources. Most deal
flexibly with unstablesoils, settling, and deflection—even earthquakes. Careful attention toirrigation and
microclimate is richly repaid.