Erratum:Journal of Water & Climate Change 14 (5), 1638–1655: Assessing the leapfrogging potential to water sensitive: the Dutch case of Zwolle, https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2023.493

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International perceptions of urban blue-green infrastructure: A comparison across four cities

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Blue-Green infrastructure (BGI) is recognised internationally as an approach for managing urban water challenges while enhancing society and the environment through the provision of multiple co-benefits. This research employed an online survey to investigate the perceptions of BGI held by professional stakeholders in four cities with established BGI programs: Newcastle (UK), Ningbo (China), Portland (Oregon USA), and Rotterdam (The Netherlands) (64 respondents). The results show that challenges associated with having too much water (e.g., pluvial and fluvial flood risk, water quality deterioration) are driving urban water management agendas. Perceptions of governance drivers for BGI implementation, BGI leaders, and strategies for improving BGI uptake, are markedly different in the four cities reflecting the varied local, regional and national responsibilities for BGI implementation. In addition to managing urban water, BGI is universally valued for its positive impact on residents’ quality of life; however, a transformative change in policy and practice towards truly multifunctional infrastructure is needed to optimise the delivery of multiple BGI benefits to address each city’s priorities and strategic objectives. Changes needed to improve BGI uptake, e.g., increasing the awareness of policy-makers to multifunctional BGI, has international relevance for other cities on their journeys to sustainable blue-green futures

Rebuild by Design in Hoboken: A Design Competition as a Means for Achieving Flood Resilience of Urban Areas through the Implementation of Green Infrastructure

The Rebuild by Design (RBD) competition was launched after the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy, and the winning designs have put a significant emphasis on green infrastructure (GI) as a means of achieving flood resilience in urban areas. Previous research in the field of urban stormwater management indicates that wide-spread implementation of GI remains a challenge, largely due to a lack of understanding of the required governance approaches. Therefore, by using a case study of Hoboken, for which the winning design was developed, this paper explores whether RBD provides governance structures and processes needed for the uptake of GI. Semi-structured interviews and desk study provided the data for an analysis of the presence of factors for supporting the transformative governance needed to facilitate the uptake of innovative solutions. Results indicate that RBD brought a greater change in terms of governance processes when compared to governance structures. In Hoboken, RBD created a narrative for long-term change, put GI as a preferred solution for tackling multiple challenges, and strengthened the local political buy-in. However, pitfalls were observed, such as limited funding provision, lack of regulatory compliance, economic justification and large investments required from public and private parties. The absence of these factors can hinder the overall uptake of the GI solution. Even though the design competition presents a novel approach to the field of resilience development, further steps should be made in understanding how the RBD methodology can be adjusted to provide results of equal quality in different settings (e.g., less developed regions, different governance contexts)

International Perceptions of Urban Blue-Green Infrastructure: A Comparison across Four Cities

Blue-Green infrastructure (BGI) is recognised internationally as an approach for managing urban water challenges while enhancing society and the environment through the provision of multiple co-benefits. This research employed an online survey to investigate the perceptions of BGI held by professional stakeholders in four cities with established BGI programs: Newcastle (UK), Ningbo (China), Portland (Oregon USA), and Rotterdam (The Netherlands) (64 respondents). The results show that challenges associated with having too much water (e.g., pluvial and fluvial flood risk, water quality deterioration) are driving urban water management agendas. Perceptions of governance drivers for BGI implementation, BGI leaders, and strategies for improving BGI uptake, are markedly different in the four cities reflecting the varied local, regional and national responsibilities for BGI implementation. In addition to managing urban water, BGI is universally valued for its positive impact on residents’ quality of life; however, a transformative change in policy and practice towards truly multifunctional infrastructure is needed to optimise the delivery of multiple BGI benefits to address each city’s priorities and strategic objectives. Changes needed to improve BGI uptake, e.g., increasing the awareness of policy-makers to multifunctional BGI, has international relevance for other cities on their journeys to sustainable blue-green futures

Assessing the leapfrogging potential to water sensitive: the Dutch case of Zwolle

Urban floods can cause significant damage and are expected to become more common due to climate change. Previous research has identified that climate change adaptation in cities requires the development of blue-green infrastructure (BGI), and it is expected that cities can leapfrog to a water-sensitive state by implementing BGI. However, leapfrogging is context-dependent, and little is known about how governance factors affect leapfrogging, particularly in midsize cities. This paper addresses this knowledge gap, providing empirical insights into leapfrogging by assessing the governance factors that support or restrict BGI implementation in Zwolle (The Netherlands) towards reaching a water-sensitive state. For the analysis, we employ a governance assessment tool and three catalytic factors that promote leapfrogging. The results show that the governance context supports leapfrogging at a moderate to high level. This means that while the governmental levels and stakeholder networks collaborate to support climate change adaptation of the city, new legislation on BGI and citizens’ involvement in climate change adaptation projects could increase the leapfrog possibilities for Zwolle in achieving its goal of becoming climate-proof by 2050

Transitie naar de waterbewuste stad: Omgaan met verstedelijking, waterbeheer en klimaatverandering

In Nederland ging in 2017 het Deltaplan Ruimtelijke Adaptatie (DPRA) van start, als onderdeel van het Deltaprogramma. De doelstelling uit het DPRA: “In 2050 is het bebouwde gebied in Nederland, inclusief vitale en kwetsbare functies, zo goed mogelijk waterrobuust en klimaatbestendig ingericht”. Op de radar van het DPRA staan klimaat-gerelateerde kwetsbaarheden en gevolgschade. Waarbij wateroverlast, droogte, hittestress en de gevolgen door overstroming de uitdagingen vormen. Stappen in de aanpak zijn een stresstest, een risicodialoog, het opstellen van een uitvoeringsagenda en het ontwikkelen van instrumenten en tools. Op papier ziet de aanpak van het DPRA er veelbelovend uit, in de zin van een logisch schema voor probleemaanpak en verbetering, oog hebbend voor de toenemende impact van klimaatverandering

Urban water management and climate change adaptation: A self-assessment study by seven midsize cities in the North Sea Region

Cities are experiencing the impacts of climate change through water-related disasters, while the sustainable management of water resources remains crucial for urban climate resilience. Accordingly, frameworks that integrate urban water management with climate change adaptation become increasingly relevant. The Water Sensitive Cities (WSC) framework is built on three pillars that address cities’ role as communities and networks, water catchments, and providers of ecosystem services. A major element of the framework is the WSC index, which can be applied to assess cities by using multiple indicators under each pillar. With the objectives of adjusting and testing the WSC index in the context of the North Sea Region through a transdisciplinary knowledge co-production process, this paper presents the results from a self-assessment conducted by seven midsize cities. Insights gained from the comparison of self-assessment results are twofold. Firstly, the cities need to value the benefits of ecosystem services for climate change adaptation, and integrate climate change into other sectors. Secondly, the cities differ regarding the priority of climate change, and even the cities that aspire to be frontrunners have weaknesses. The application of the self-assessment process also creates an exchange and mutual learning platform for cities, and increases their awareness on climate resilience