PLANET SIGNAL · 4PLANET MAGAZINE
Stormwater infrastructure could be designed for more than water
A 2026 open-access paper argues that biodiversity and water-sensitive urban design are still too often planned in parallel, even when the same urban spaces are doing both jobs.
Signal
Workshops with ecology, hydrology, architecture and urban-planning experts identified a practical opportunity to integrate water and biodiversity objectives earlier in nature-based urban design.
Why it matters
A pond, roof or planted basin can be drainage infrastructure, habitat, heat adaptation and public space at once. The question is whether the design brief and measurement system allow those functions to coexist rather than letting one dominate by default.
Boundary
The work develops an integrated design approach from expert workshops and literature. It does not imply that every multi-purpose nature-based solution delivers all intended benefits without site-specific design and monitoring.