2014 Park Pride Parks and Greenspace Conference Presenter is David Rouse

1. Green Infrastructure 101
Overview and Key Concepts
David Rouse, AICP, ASLA
Research Director
American Planning Association
• Definitions
• Benefits
• Principles

2. Green Infrastructure Definitions
An interconnected network of natural areas and other open spaces
that conserves natural ecosystem values and functions, sustains
clean area and water, and provides a wide array of benefits to
people and wildlife.
Mark A. Benedict and Edward T. McMahon, Green Infrastructure:
Linking Landscapes and Communities, Island Press, 2006
Systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes to
infiltrate, evapotranspirate, or reuse stormwater on the site where
it is generated.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

3. Green Infrastructure Definitions
Green infrastructure as landscape…the physical manifestation of
processes that connect the built and natural environments,
performing multiple functions and yielding associated benefits for
the health and well-being of people and wildlife.
PAS Report 571, Green Infrastructure: A Landscape Approach, p. 11
Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, FranceGreen City, Clean Waters, City of PhiladelphiaTrinity River, Karen S. Walz

4. Green Infrastructure Examples Across Scales
Regional Scale
• Natural Preserves
• Working Farms and Forests
• River Corridors
City Scale
• Urban Forest / Tree Canopy
• Urban Parks
• Parkways and Boulevards

5. Green Infrastructure Examples Across Scales
Area Scale
• Local Parks
• Constructed Wetlands
• Green Streets
Site/Building Scale
• Stormwater Planters
• Rain Gardens
• Green Roofs

6. Green Infrastructure Benefits
The Triple Bottom Line
GreenPlan Philadelphia

7. Green Infrastructure and Public Health
The mission of the public health profession is to fulfill society’s
interest in assuring conditions in which people can be healthy….
…Medterms Medical Dictionary
Railroad Park, Birmingham, Tom Leader Studio
Green schoolyard, before and after, WRT for the City of Philadelphia

8. Green Infrastructure and Public Health
How can green infrastructure contribute to assuring conditions in which
people can be healthy?
• It can improve environmental conditions such as air and water quality
that impact human health.
• It can encourage walking, biking, and other forms of physical activity.
• It can improve mental health by bringing people into contact with
nature.
• It can increase safety through design.
• It can reduce health disparities in poor and marginalized communities
(environmental justice).
There is a growing body of evidence to support these connections…
Kathleen L. Wolf, PhD. http://www.naturewithin.info/

9. Green Infrastructure and Systems Thinking
SYSTEM PRINCIPLES
• Interconnections: relationships (flows
and interactions) that hold the parts
of a system together.
• Stock: material or information that
has accumulated over time from flows
through the system.
• Feedback loop: a circular pathway
formed by an effect returning to its
cause and generating more or less of
the same effect.
• Leverage point: a place where a
targeted intervention results in a
significant change in system behavior.
• Resilience: the ability of a system to
recover from or adapt to disturbance
or change.

10. Green Infrastructure in Practice: Principles
1. Multi-Functionality
2. Connectivity
3. Habitability
4. Resiliency
5. Identity
6. Return on Investment

11. Green Infrastructure in Practice: Principles
1. Multi-Functionality
Use green infrastructure
to provide multiple
environmental,
economic, and social
benefits in the
landscape.

12. Green Infrastructure in Practice: Principles
2. Connectivity
Maximize the benefits
of green infrastructure
as a physically
connected network
across the landscape.

13. Green Infrastructure in Practice: Principles
3. Habitability
Provide landscape
“habitat” in which
people, flora, and fauna
can be healthy.

14. Green Infrastructure in Practice: Principles
4. Resiliency
Increase the capacity of
communities to recover
from or adapt to
disturbance and
change.

15. Green Infrastructure in Practice: Principles
5. Identity
Use green infrastructure
as an expression of
sense of place in the
landscape.

16. Green Infrastructure in Practice: Principles
6. Return on Investment
“Monetize” green
infrastructure to reduce
costs and provide
positive financial
outcomes.

17. Green Infrastructure in Practice: Principles
1. Multi-Functionality
2. Connectivity
3. Habitability
4. Resiliency
5. Identity
6. Return on Investment
Daniel McCormick, “Intersections,” a
watershed sculpture on the Carolina
Thread Trail, Charlotte, NC
What is this picture?
What principles does it
express?

18. Green Infrastructure in Practice: Project Types,
Scales, and Principles (Planning)ProjectTypesandScales
Principles
Regional
Growth /
Vision Plans
Functional Plans
(Regional)
Functional Plans
(Local)
Comprehensive
Plans
Development
Regulations and
Codes
Capital
Improvements

19. Green Infrastructure in Practice: Project Types,
Scales, and Principles (Planning)ProjectTypesandScales
Principles
Regional
Growth /
Vision Plans
Functional Plans
(Regional)
Functional Plans
(Local Govt.)
Comprehensive
Plans
Development
Regulations and
Codes
Capital
Improvements

20. Lancaster County, PA Green Infrastructure Plan
FUNCTIONAL PLAN
(REGIONAL)
Habitat preservation,
land conservation,
recreation, stormwater
management.
System connects
across rural, suburban,
and urban landscapes.
Promotes health of
people and
ecosystems.
Absorption of flood
waters, carbon
sequestration.
Natural areas, stream
corridors, and parks &
trails provide regional
identity.
Ecotourism is a key
part of the economy.
Hubs and Greenways
Concept Map
Greenscapes, Lancaster County Green Infrastructure Plan

21. Green Infrastructure 101
David Rouse, AICP, ASLA
Research Director
American Planning Association
202.349.1010
drouse@planning.org