Green infrastructure as life support: urban nature and climate change

Green Infrastructure is the network of green spaces and water systems that delivers multiple environmental, social and economic values and services to urban communities. This living network strengthens the resilience of urban environments to respond to the major current and future challenges of climate change, growth, health and biodiversity loss, as well as water, energy and food security. With the rapid expansion of towns and cities around the world, the far-reaching value of Green Infrastructure is increasingly recognised by scientific, planning and design communities. A key strategy area of the South Australian Green Infrastructure Project has been development of a sound and credible evidence base to demonstrate the multiple benefits and make the case for investment in Green Infrastructure. A review of local and global literature, with an emphasis on the most recent peer-reviewed research, was carried out between 2012 and 2014. The body of evidence firmly establishes the many and diverse benefits of Green Infrastructure. These include modification of temperatures and climatic conditions, improved human health and well-being, enhanced community liveability, more effective water management, increased economic prosperity, greater opportunity for biodiversity conservation and more extensive urban food production. The primary focus of this paper is the contribution of Green Infrastructure to climate adaptation and protection.