scholarly journals A Methodology of Policy Assessment at the Municipal Level: Costa Rica´s Readiness for the Implementation of Nature-Based-Solutions for Urban Stormwater Management

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Alejandra Neumann ◽  
Jochen Hack
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Urban Stormwater ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Municipal Level

Nature-based-solutions (NBS) pursue a combination of economic, social, and environmental benefits that can meet municipal goals on stormwater and rapid urbanization problems. However, NBS have fallen behind in reaching to the political and legal framework, and with this, to a policy mix for urban stormwater sustainability. When looking closer at NBS, it becomes evident that they are loaded with many barriers, including institutional and political ones, as well as those that exist in the urban area social context. These barriers are also deepened by the lack of policy guidelines and few demonstration projects. In this respect, this paper combines the concepts of urban experiments and the policy feedback cycle (PFC) into a singular assessment tool. It´s goal is to assess Costa Rica’s municipal readiness in the implementation of NBS within the context of policy design and implementation. Therefore, this paper focusses on the first two stages of the PFC of an existing urban experiment to extract its policy insights for the successful replication of NBS projects. This novel method aims to contribute to the ongoing debate with respect to the ability of experimentation to prompt scalability and transferability of results. Hence, the New York City Green Infrastructure plan is considered as an urban experiment that promotes sustainable policy initiatives; while the PFC can identify and (re)formulate these policies initiatives and barriers into an adaptable policy guideline. Results indicate that sustainability policies at the municipal level should incorporate incentive mechanisms policies on (i) community involvement and communication; and (ii) transdisciplinary knowledge transfer between specialists and stakeholders. Finally, this paper suggests the inter-municipal cross-institutional collaboration and the recognition of external trigger events to incentivize a sustainable urban transition.

scholarly journals Rapid Assessment and Long-Term Monitoring of Green Stormwater Infrastructure with Citizen Scientists

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12520
Author(s):  
Thomas Meixner ◽  
Alan R. Berkowitz ◽  
Alisen E. Downey ◽  
Jose Pillich ◽  
Reese LeVea ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Urban Stormwater ◽  
Green Stormwater Infrastructure ◽  
Rain Events ◽  
American Cities

Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) has emerged as a promising decentralized management approach to urban stormwater challenges. A lack of data about GSI performance interferes with widespread adoption of GSI. A citizen science program that benefits researchers, lay scientists, and municipalities offers a way to provide these lacking data. We have developed an open-source, transferable green infrastructure rapid assessment (GIRA) protocol for studying the performance of GSI with citizen scientists. This protocol has been tested in six North American cities (New York City, Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago, San Francisco, and Buffalo). In this research we define the performance of GSI in varying geographic, climatic, and maintenance conditions with the intent to create technological, institutional, and management solutions to urban stormwater problems. The GIRA protocol was used by citizen scientists to assess the physical properties and capabilities of bioswales, while small, affordable Green Infrastructure Sensors Boxes (GIBoxes) were used to determine longer-term function across several rain events. Our results indicate that teams of citizen scientists can be effective for collecting and archiving widespread information on the post-installation function of GSI. The effort also showed that citizen scientists had changes in understanding of urban stormwater challenges and the role that GSI can play in solving these problems. We explore the multiple benefits to knowledge, participants, and municipal partners as a result of this research.

New Paradigm for State Department of Transportation Environmental Initiatives: New York State’s Guidelines and Procedures

2000 ◽  
Vol 1702 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary McVoy ◽  
Mark Sengenberger ◽  
Elizabeth Novak
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York State ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
State Department ◽  
Regulatory Compliance ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
York State Department ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
New Paradigm

Public-works agencies have an obligation to enhance the environment as opportunities arise. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has developed an environmental initiative to make an affirmative contribution to the environment, using the department’s organizational strengths. The environmental initiative is a paradigm shift applicable to all departments of transportation (DOTs). Conventional reactive regulatory compliance can reduce unnecessary environmental damage and sometimes gain grudging regulatory agency cooperation; however, it is not a positive, satisfying way of doing the people’s work. Through proactive steps, NYSDOT has become an important part of the state’s environmental solution (often at little or no additional cost) and has changed its working relationships with environmental agencies and groups. As these agencies and groups have become partners, instead of adversaries, permit-approval times have improved, mitigation costs have declined, morale has improved, and cost-effective environmental benefits are being realized. Procedures are outlined to apply the engineering capabilities of a DOT to the environmental-stewardship responsibilities shared by all governmental organizations.

scholarly journals Urban Green Corridors Analysis for a Rapid Urbanization City Exemplified in Gaoyou City, Jiangsu

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1374
Author(s):  
Hefei Wang ◽  
Zongping Pei
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Ecological Networks ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Ecological Connectivity ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Green Corridors

The undergoing trend and development towards urbanization and the consequences of socio-ecological and climate change are increasing the pressure on cities worldwide. The planning of urban green and blue spaces is essential for sustainable urban development, especially for the conservation of urban ecosystems in fast-growing cities. In this context, the spatial-explicit and ecological connectivity analyses of urban green infrastructure are helpful tools for planning and the evaluation of spatial patterns and their changes for the sustainability of urban development. The aim of this study is to understand the influence of urban expansion on the urban green corridors. In this paper, we present an analysis of ecological networks for green infrastructure planning at the city level, making the most out of morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) techniques and social-ecological analysis methods. The findings reveal the changes of spatial patterns of urban green and blue areas in Gaoyou city and disclose its ecological corridors and connectivity from 1990 to 2012. The urban green corridors analysis method proposed here can be used in other cities and allow for the production of spatially detailed urban ecological connectivity assessment and monitoring. Recommendations to enhance and conserve green corridors and ecological networks such as reserving networks in the east of the example city have been concluded. The conclusion obtained using our spatial analysis method can be used in other municipalities to serve as spatial-explicit tools for urban green spaces and land use planning.

Rapid Research and Assessment on COVID-19 and Climate in New York City

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150010
Author(s):  
Nora Kyrkjebo ◽  
Adam Parris ◽  
Janice Barnes ◽  
Illya Azaroff ◽  
Deborah Balk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Expert Elicitation ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Organizational Sensemaking ◽  
Climate Service

In May 2020, the New York City (NYC) Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency (MOCR) began convening bi-weekly discussions, called the Rapid Research and Assessment (RRA) Series, between City staff and external experts in science, policy, design, engineering, communications, and planning. The goal was to rapidly develop authoritative, actionable information to help integrate resiliency into the City’s COVID response efforts. The situation in NYC is not uncommon. Extreme events often require government officials, practitioners, and citizens to call upon multiple forms of scientific and technical assistance from rapid data collection to expert elicitation, each spanning more or less involved engagement. We compare the RRA to similar rapid assessment efforts and reflect on the nature of the RRA and similar efforts to exchange and co-produce knowledge. The RRA took up topics on social cohesion, risk communication, resilient and healthy buildings, and engagement, in many cases strengthening confidence in what was already known but also refining the existing knowledge in ways that can be helpful as the pandemic unfolds. Researchers also learned from each other ways to be supportive of the City of New York and MOCR in the future. The RRA network will continue to deepen, continue to co-produce actionable climate knowledge, and continue to value organizational sensemaking as a usable climate service, particularly in highly uncertain times. Given the complex, rare, and, in many cases, unfamiliar context of COVID-19, we argue that organizational sensemaking is a usable climate service.

Lightweight aggregates to reduce heavy metal pollution in green infrastructure for urban stormwater management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Concepcion Pla ◽  
Javier Valdes-Abellan ◽  
Miguel Angel Pardo ◽  
Maria Jose Moya-Llamas ◽  
David Benavente
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Heavy Metal ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Metal Pollution ◽  
Heavy Metal Pollution ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Stormwater Management ◽  
Lightweight Aggregates ◽  
Urban Stormwater ◽  
Runoff Water

<p>The impervious nature of urban areas is mostly responsible for urban flooding, runoff water pollution and the interception of groundwater recharge. Green infrastructure and sustainable urban drainage systems combine natural and artificial measures to mitigate the abovementioned problems, improving stormwater management and simultaneously increasing the environmental values of urban areas. The actual rate of urban growth in many urban areas requires the enhancement and optimization of stormwater management infrastructures to integrate the territorial development with the natural processes. Regarding the quality of runoff stormwater, heavy metals are critical for their impact on human health and ecological systems, even more if we consider the cumulative effect that they produce on biota. Thus, innovative stormwater management approaches must consider new solutions to deal with heavy metal pollution problems caused by runoff. In this study, we propose the employment of Arlita<sup>®</sup> and Filtralite<sup>®</sup>, two kind of lightweight aggregates obtained from expanded clays, to remove heavy metal concentration from runoff stormwater. Laboratory experiments were developed to evaluate the removal rate of different heavy metals existent in runoff stormwater. The lightweight aggregates acted as filter materials in column experiments to quantify their removal capacity. In addition, batch tests were also developed to evaluate the exhaustive capacity of the materials. Results from the study confirmed the efficiency of the selected lightweight aggregates to reduce the heavy metals concentration by up to 90% in urban stormwater runoff.</p>

Urban Hazard Adaptation: Efficiency of a Green Infrastructure in an Italian metropolis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Busca ◽  
Roberto Revelli
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutants ◽  
Water Runoff ◽  
Water Shortages ◽  
Economic Point

<p>In recent years, safeguarding approaches and environmental management initiatives have been adopted both by international institutions and local governments , aimed at sustainable use of natural resources and their restoration, in order to manage hazard level of climate change consequences (urban flooding, droughts and water shortages, sea level rise, issues with food security).</p><p>Cities represent the main collectors of these effects, consequently they need to implement specific adaptation plans mitigating consequences of such future events: Green Infrastructures (G.I.) fall within the most effective tools for achieving the goal. In the urban context, they also identify themselves as valid strategies for biodiversity recovery and ecological functions.</p><p>This work analyzes the role of a G.I. in an urban environment, with the aim of quantifying Ecosystem Services (E.S.) provided by vegetation: through usage of <em>i-Tree</em>, specific software suite for E.S. quantification, the sustainability offered by “Le Vallere” park, a 34-hectares greenspace spread between municipalities of Turin and Moncalieri (Italy), was analyzed, in collaboration with the related management institution (<em>Ente di gestione delle Aree Protette del Po torinese</em>). The study, carried out using two specific tools (<em>i-Tree Eco and i-Tree Hydro</em>), focuses on different aspects: carbon sequestration and storage, atmospheric pollutants reduction, avoided water runoff and water quality improvement are just some of the environmental benefits generated by tree population. Tools enable to carry out the analysis also from an economic point of view, evaluating monetary benefits brought by the green infrastructure both at present day and in the future,  taking into account climate change effects through projections based on the regional climatic model COSMO-CLM (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios).</p><p>The work led to deepen potential held by the greenspace, helping the cooperating management institution  to plan future territorial agenda and to find innovative approaches for an integrated and sustainable hazard control.</p>

Monitoring Performance of Green Infrastructure Source Controls in New York City

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 (5) ◽  
pp. 132-138
Author(s):  
John McLaughlin ◽  
Sandeep Mehrotra ◽  
William Leo ◽  
Matthew Jones
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
York City ◽  
Monitoring Performance

scholarly journals Metropolitan Vision, Stakeholder Action and Community Involvement in Regeneration of Seaside Cities: Innovative Strategies from New York City for the Gulf of Naples

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 232-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Clemente
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Research Council ◽  
National Research Council ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
Innovative Strategies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gulf Of Naples

This paper suggests to reflect on the waterfront in a nontraditional way, referring to theoretical and methodological assumptions, developed in recent years about “Cities from the Sea” by our research group in the National Research Council of Italy. So the first step is to move from cognitive analysis to proposals and projects. We can refer to the positive experience of New York that is a best practice in approach, strategies and results. The key of this success is a synthesis of the metropolitan vision favored by the public government, the activation of stakeholders to get results of common interest, the involvement of local communities. People was informed and motivated to put a position, they were encouraged to participate and to give a significant contribute to the achievement of results.

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