Water Sensitive Urban Design

Approaches to Water Sensitive Urban Design: Potential, Design, Ecological Health, Economics, Policies and Community Perceptions covers all aspects on the implementation of sustainable storm water systems for urban and suburban areas whether they are labeled as WSUD, Low Impact Development (LID), Green Infrastructure (GI), Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) or the Sponge City Concept. These systems and approaches are becoming an integral part of developing water sensitive cities as they are considered very capable solutions in addressing issues relating to urbanization, climate change and heat island impacts in dealing with storm water issues. The book is based on research conducted in Australia and around the world, bringing in perspectives in an ecosystems approach, a water quality approach, and a sewer based approach to stormwater, all of which are uniquely covered in this single resource.

Managing the urban water cycle needs to be underpinned by key sustainability principles of water consumption, water recycling, waste minimisation and environmental protection. The integration of urban water cycle management with urban planning and design is known as Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD). WSUD Engineering Procedures: Stormwater is designed to give practical engineering solutions to all those who need to implement WSUD guidelines.

During recent years, techniques and legislation for decentralized storm-water management have advanced all over the world. However, decentralized storm-water management systems are still under-utilized and acceptance among citizens and professionals is still lacking. Yet management of this issue will be essential for the sustainable development of cities in the future. Thus acceptance of the systems must be improved. The main question that needs to be answered is how can sustainable storm-water management be integrated with urban design in order to create safe, liveable, sustainable, and attractive cities? This manual, developed by the Hafen City University of Hamburg, provides an overview of a Water Sensitive Urban Design approach and creates principles for a successful strategy focused on the topics: Water Sensitivity, Aesthetics, Functionality, Usability, Public Perception and Acceptance, as well as Integrative Planning. It furthermore presents an international selection of case studies ranging from small scale (site level) up to large scale (city level), demonstrating the WSUD principles in the context of the temperate climates.

This book describes the urgent challenge faced by cities worldwide to become resilient to climate change impacts. This challenge goes further than the ability to resist the impacts of extreme weather conditions. Coping with climate impacts and the ability to recover from them are equally important, as well as the capacity to adapt to the effects of climate change and the ability to transform the entire urban system. The book explores how the resilience journey for coastal cities in particular encompasses using scientific knowledge but also the knowledge of citizens and practitioners. Measures and strategies on different scales are needed, from national scale all the way down to neighbourhood, street level and building level. Representing the holistic nature of climate resilience, this collection contains unique insights from leading scientists and practitioners in areas of expertise such as engineering, social sciences and urban design. It will be a valuable resource for scholars, students, practitioners and policy makers interested in the development of resilient and sustainable urban environments.

The intense concentration of human activity in urban areas leads to changes in both the quantity and quality of runoff that eventually reaches our streams, lakes, wetlands, estuaries and coasts. The increasing use of impervious surfaces designed to provide smooth and direct pathways for stormwater run-off, has led to greater runoff volumes and flow velocities in urban waterways. Unmanaged, these changes in the quantity and quality of stormwater can result in considerable damage to the environment. Improved environmental performance is needed to ensure that the environmental values and beneficial uses of receiving waters are sustained or enhanced. Urban Stormwater - Best-Practice Environmental Management Guidelines resulted from a collaboration between State government agencies, local government and leading research institutions. The guidelines have been designed to meet the needs of people involved in the planning, design or management of urban land uses or stormwater drainage systems. They provide guidance in ten key areas: *Environmental performance objectives *Stormwater management planning *Land use planning *Water sensitive urban design *Construction site management *Business surveys *Education and awareness *Enforcement *Structural treatment measures *Flow management Engineers and planners within local government, along with consultants to the development industry, should find the guidelines especially useful. Government agencies should also find them helpful in assessing the performance of stormwater managers. While developed specifically for application in Victoria, Australia, the information will be of value to stormwater managers everywhere.

looks at the best ways for urban design using water sensitive designs. With chapters including constructed wetlands and ponds, infiltration systems and hydrocarbon management, it covers the topic very well.

Today’s urban water managers are faced with an unprecedented set of issues that call for a different approach to urban water management. These include the urgent changes needed to respond to climate change, population growth, growing resource constraints, and rapidly increasing global urbanization. Not only are these issues difficult to address, but they are facing us in an environment that is increasingly unpredictable and complex. Although innovative, new tools are now available to water professionals to address these challenges, solving the water problems of tomorrow cannot be done by the water professionals alone. Instead, the city of the future, whether in the developed or developing world, must integrate water management planning and operations with other city services to meet the needs of humans and the environment in a dramatically superior manner. Water Sensitive Cities has been developed from selected papers from 2009 Singapore Water Week “Planning for Sustainable Solutions” and also papers taken from other IWA events. It pulls together material that supports the water professionals’ need for useful and up-to-date material. Authors: Carol Howe, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, The Netherlands Cynthia Mitchell, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia