Introduction - Living Roofs in Integrated Urban Water Systems - page 4

burden on the overall network and reduces the demand for inlexible grey infra-
structure and large downstream lood management facilities.
GI fundamentally couples better community design with technological func-
tion. From a landscape architecture perspective, Fredrick Law Olmsted's work can
be seen as the genesis of design and planning that combines open space with
infrastructure services. As the designer of New York City's Central Park and the
1893 Chicago World Exhibition, Olmsted was the most prominent North Ameri-
can landscape architect in the nineteenth century. He understood that accessibil-
ity to green public open space close to the polluted dense city centers would
have tremendous health and social beneits for city dwellers. In Boston's Emerald
Necklace, Olmsted developed a park system connected by so-called “parkways.”
These parkways (wide green path systems lined with trees) made the open spaces
accessible to the visitors on foot, horses and carriages, but also provided storm-
water mitigation through an interconnected swale and lake system (Hellmund
and Smith 2006). In the nineteenth century, Olmsted, Henry David Thoreau and
John Muir were strong advocates that green open space would be very important
for the physiological, physical and spiritual health of the city dweller (Fischer
2010; Martin 2011; Thoreau 1851). Only recently this has been scientiically
proven with rigorous experiments and peer-reviewed journal publications (Kellet
and Rofe 2009; Kuo 2010; Ulrich 1984).
Visual and physical access to GI is documented as being responsible for
improvements in human mental and physical health; decreases in instances of
crime; and other social beneits, such as fostering connection to place and
increasing economic value (increased property values and economic activity)
through the improved aesthetic appearance of neighborhoods (Coley et al. 1997;
Cox 2012; Forest Research 2010; Kuo 2010; Wooley and Rose 2004). These
potential beneits should motivate urban development professionals to advocate
and integrate GI at all scales: regional and municipal masterplans, individual
building lot designs, open spaces, and in new or retroit projects. Precedent for
widespread successful living roof implementation is found in Portland (Oregon),
Linz (Austria) and Stuttgart (Germany) (Lawlor et al. 2006). Technology, urban
design, planning, ecology and associated disciplines have evolved to provide a
suite of tools that build upon Olmsted's parkways. Infrastructure designed with a
systems approach merges technical know-how with architectural design to suc-
cessfully create healthy urban environments.
Within the context of GI, resilient urban stormwater solutions rely on a holistic
approach to managing the hydrologic cycle and improving water quality. Green
Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI), Low Impact Development (LID), Environmental
Site Design (ESD), Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), or Sustainable Urban
Drainage Systems (SUDS) are common terms around the world to summarize this
design approach. Regardless of the name, the design paradigm combines land-
use planning with engineered stormwater control measures (SCMs) to create a
functional landscape that minimizes changes to site hydrology and limits pollut-
ant discharges (e.g., Figure 1.1 ). Equal attention is paid to runoff quality and