Overlooked considerations in prescribing green and blue infrastructure solutions for urban environments
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: Green and blue infrastructure (GBI) is emerging as a key strategy for climate adaptation and urban resilience, yet its implementation often faces critical contextual barriers. This review initially screened over 29,000 publications, ultimately synthesizing more than 500 relevant studies supplemented by diverse expert input. The result is a novel integrative framework that connects previously siloed knowledge and consolidates 21 underexplored barriers across four key domains of GBI implementation: environmental, social, economic, and governance/policy. Environmental barriers include conflicts between GBI and renewable energy goals, specifically photovoltaics, unintended consequences of GBI (such as allergenic pollen production), urban ventilation disruption, and vulnerability of plant species to multiple urban stressors. Effective responses include thoughtful allocation and integration of photovoltaics and GBI, developing context-specific frameworks combining ecological knowledge with technological innovation, fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration across technical and social domains, science-based species selection and implementing multi-scalar strategies that enhance ecological connectivity. Social barriers encompass environmental injustice, cultural disconnection, limited public adoption, safety concerns, and esthetic preferences favoring manicured over ecologically functional landscapes. These challenges highlight the need for participatory design, culturally responsive planning, and inclusive resource allocation to strengthen community engagement and long-term stewardship. Economic barriers stem from biodiversity undervaluation, inadequate asset recognition in accounting frameworks, incomplete cost-benefit analyses, and limited private investment. Innovative financing tools such as green bonds and debt-for-nature swaps offer promising mechanisms for resilient financing, while standardized natural capital accounting frameworks can better capture GBI's multifunctional value. Governance barriers include land scarcity, urban design limitations, policy fragmentation, and disconnects with other urban agendas such as walkability. Overcoming these requires institutional realignment, cross-sectoral collaboration, and integrated spatial planning. The review unifies these findings into 12 actionable recommendations to support holistic decision-making, emphasizing that effective GBI implementation demands context-specific strategies combining innovation, inclusive governance, and long-term stewardship to mainstream GBI in sustainable urban development.
Source: The Innovation
Authors: Prashant Kumar, Karina Corada Perez, Akash Biswal, Hao Sun, Anubhav Kumar Dwivedi, Sarkawt Hama, Soheila Khalili, Ajit Ahlawat, Maria de Fatima Andrade, Ronaldo Adriano Alves, Emannuelly A. Amaral dos Santos, Maria Athanassiadou, Camilo Bastos Ribeiro, Prabin Bhusal, Miguel Luiz Bucalem, Bonnie G. Buchanan, Leticia Figueiredo Candido, Shi-Jie Cao, Amarilis Lucia Casteli Figueiredo Gallardo, Ruidong Chang, Amanda K. Chaves Ribeiro, Brian Considine, Regina Maura de Miranda, Letícia Aparecida de Paiva, Priyanka de Souza, Marco A. Franco, Edmilson D. Freitas, H. Christopher Frey, Marco F. Funari, Bruno Furieri, John Gallagher, Leandro Luiz Giatti, Marcos Jeronimo Goroski Rambalducci, Christos H. Halios, Felicity Harris, Leonardo Hoinaski, Colin Horton, Yuhan Huang, Laurence Jones, Robyn Jones, John Kandulu, Madhusudan Katti, Giuliano Maselli Locosselli, Augusto Akio Lucchezi Miyahara, Jorge Alberto Martins, Leila Droprinchinski Martins, Mauricio Cruz Mantoani, Roberta Consentino Kronka Mülfarth, Yasmin Kaore Lago Kitagawa, Willian Lemker Andreão, Jackson Lemons, Giulia Mariano Machado, Shelagh K. Malham, Meredith P. Martin, Maria Clara V.M. Starling, Aonghus McNabola, Otavio Medeiros Sobrinho, Eugene Mohareb, Erick G. Sperandio Nascimento, Thiago Nogueira, Gwilym Owen, Rajan Parajuli, Hari Prasad Pandey, Rizzieri Pedruzzi, Pedro José Pérez Martínez, Janaina Antonino Pinto, Jorge Armando Piscoya Santibañez, Shila Pokhrel, Paula Lelis Rabelo Albala, Neyval C. Reis, Anderson P. Rudke, Devendra Saroj, Yiming Sui, Veronica Soebarto, Yonatal Tefera, Taciana Toledo de Almeida Albuquerque, Bruna Lima Veras Maia, Fang Wang, Jannis Wenk, Robson Will, Carmel Williams, Hannah Sloan Wood, Qingyun Wu, Chang Xi, Russell Yates, Runming Yao
Institutions: Trinity College Dublin, University of Surrey, Southeast University, University of East London, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Delft University of Technology, Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Met Office, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, North Carolina State University, Tribhuvan University, Universidade Nove de Julho, The University of Adelaide, RMIT University, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Denver, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, University of Reading, Portsmouth City Council, University of Technology Sydney, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Liverpool Hope University, Bangor University, Flinders University, Universidade Federal de Lavras, ArcelorMittal (Brazil), Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial, Universidade SENAI CIMATEC, Cardiff Council, University of Southern Queensland, Government of Nepal, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Universidade de Brasília, International Atomic Energy Agency, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Soil Science, State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Federal Institute of Hydrology, University of Bath, Surrey County Council, Chongqing University
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,000
Awards: G1123372118, G2169368184, G286636596, G3575036261, G3991169958, Functional forests: biodiversity in the benefit of cities, G5304450657, G5572196838, Informed greening of cities for urban cooling (GreenCities), Sustainable growth accomodation for State of São Paulo Cities, G8424866816, Defragmenting the fragmented urban landscape (DEFRAG), G8603998998, Improvement of public transport between suburbs and city center in large urban agglomerations - TRAMA
OpenAlex ID: W4416420302