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Hall C
A BUSINESS MODEL FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO INVEST IN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
Hall C
Abstract
Abstract Body
Urban green infrastructure (UGI) can be effective for climate change adaptation, to reduce the urban heat island effect, enhance water retention and infiltration, while simultaneously enhancing biodiversity and human wellbeing. Even though these advantages are known, the implementation rate of UGI remains slow for a number of reasons including land scarcity, limited institutional resources, uncertainties on the delivery of multiple benefits and the limited bankability of GI projects.
In support of the needs of local authorities (LAs) of smaller cities, a business model (including a tool and Guiding Document) is created that aims at assisting LAs when considering investing in a UGI project. The business model provides them the handles to demonstrate how a GI project can generate returns (qualitatively, quantitatively, monetarily) and how the provided returns compare to the more classical chosen grey infrastructure. Results are presented for one or more UGI pilot investments of the Interreg2Seas project Nature Smart Cities (https://naturesmartcities.eu/). The pilot cities are Southend-On-Sea, Cambridge (England), The Hague, Kapelle (the Netherlands), Antwerp, Bruges (Belgium), and Lille (France).
The business model tool compares different grey, green and hybrid infrastructure projects (referred to as scenarios) in terms of costs and benefits. The thorough assessment of each scenario for specific ecosystem services (ESS) chosen by the user, is the core of the business model. The comparison of different scenarios can be done by relying on an extensive data library with qualitative, quantitative and monetary values for different ESS and UGI elements, and/or by conducting case specific calculation. In other words, the tool allows for a flexible assessment according to the type of GI, the available data, the location and scale of the project. The results of the user-friendly tool are visualised in a fact sheet, enhanced with readily understandable visuals (e.g. spider diagrams, bar charts, etc.).
FARM OF THE FUTURE: HOW TO SOLVE THE CONTEMPORARY, URGENT ISSUES IN HET GROENE HART
Hall C
Abstract
Abstract Body
Contact details:
Roos Köbben
rooskobben@hotmail.com
+31624167195
Graduate student at the faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, TU Delft, Delft, The
Netherlands
Author: Roos Köbben
Co-Author: Nico Tillie, Mo Smit
Abstract title:
FARM OF THE FUTURE: HOW TO SOLVE THE CONTEMPORARY, URGENT ISSUES IN HET
GROENE HART
Abstract text:
‘Het Groene Hart’ (lit. translated: the green heart) is a relatively green area in the Netherlands,
situated in between most of the big cities; Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. The
region currently faces many issues, of which soil subsidence is the most urgent. Although the
government has stated that the CO2 emission caused by the soil subsidence will have to be reduced
1 megaton by 2030, no real measures are taken so far 1.The problems are mainly caused by the dairy
industry, which covers 80% of the region2. A fundamental change in land-use is therefore needed.
This research offers a solution that tackles several of the most urgent contemporary problems. What
if, instead of using this valuable land to produce massive amounts of dairy and meat to be exported to
other countries, leaving Dutch farmers broke because of factory monopolies, high loans and low milk
prices, we can offer them a new, brighter future? What if the soil subsidence can be stopped and Het
Groene Hart can become more natural and diverse again? What if het Groene Hart can provide
natural building materials for the massive housing shortage in the Randstad (known as the “one
million housing challenge)? This results in the Farm of the Future; a place where natural building
materials are grown, while simultaneously enhancing biodiversity and stopping soil subsidence. The
Farm of the Future will show what the peat landscape really has to offer.
THE FUTURE CITY AS SUPERORGANISM
Hall C
Q&A
Hall C