Arup Global Research Challenge: Delivering green infrastructure in cities through a new business model

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Globally, green infrastructure is recognised as an important tool that can address a range of interwoven benefits in urban areas such as: reducing flood risk, reducing urban heat island effects, reducing water pollution, improving air quality, reducing noise, providing amenity provision and well-being. The challenges these benefits address are projected to intensify in the context of climate change and urban population growth. The potential to achieve these benefits is made difficult by the traditional models for delivering green infrastructure and complexities such as: understanding who benefits and hence who pays; valuing the benefits; the appropriate spatial scale for implementation; incentives and enforcement for its implementation and maintenance; and how its delivery interacts with existing infrastructure in urban areas.Here we aim to identify, investigate and pilot tangible design, funding, implementation and operating models for green infrastructure which can be replicated or adapted internationally. An initial review of funding and delivery mechanism for green infrastructure will be undertaken from an academic and practitioners' viewpoint, drawing upon a range of literature sources. Simultaneously, laneways in Melbourne deemed suitable for 'greening' will be co-designed and implemented with local communities. An evaluation of the potential multiple benefits of laneways in the Melbourne will include social, economic and environmental benefits. An example of how these benefits can be quantified will be conducted in the context of flood risk by coupling Newcastle University's pluvial flood risk model of Melbourne that can illustrate the flood mitigation effect of green infrastructure with ARUP's economic tool, Floodlite. Stakeholder mapping of the beneficiaries, coupled with a conceptual map of how benefits flow, will inform the proposal of alternative business models for funding the delivery of laneways. These various elements will then be brought together to inform the development of a digital community funding platform for green infrastructure; this will be complimented by a set of recommendations and non-technical summary guide to green infrastructure funding. The process will be repeatable and transferable to enable communities to support green infrastructures in their neighbourhoods. Joint funding from NERC and Arup (through their Global Research Challenge fund) will bring together teams from the scientific, government and practitioner communities and enable them to integrate the range of skills required to deliver this work.