Comprehensive Planning and Green Stormwater Infrastructure

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How to integrate rain gardens, swales, tree trenches, and similar green stormwater infrastructure to best address community needs
• A comprehensive planning process to prioritize the location and design of green stormwater infrastructure
• How to leverage green stormwater infrastructure to fund and implement complete projects

MORE SESSION DETAILS

Greening and sustainability have been key elements of community and municipal comprehensive plans for decades. But naturally managing stormwater through decentralized, infiltrating systems such as rain gardens, swales, and vegetated bumpouts is now becoming a fundamental part of the utility strategy in more and more communities. Although green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) is utilitarian in nature, it also provides secondary benefits of beautification. How can you use GSI to enhance community assets, shape recommendations, and achieve implementation? How can comprehensive plans guide the planning and design of GSI? Come learn how the Philadelphia City Planning Commission's award-winning Philadelphia2035 plan and the Philadelphia Water Department’s "Green City, Clean Waters" program have teamed up to make Philadelphia greener. This session will identify how the comprehensive planning process can guide the location and design of GSI, as well as how GSI has been used to address heat-island effects and other issues in district plan recommendations. Featured projects will demonstrate how plans were aligned to encourage collaboration and conserve resources to create complete greening projects and enhance public spaces in economically challenged neighborhoods in Philadelphia. Bring your municipal comprehensive plan to share for post-presentation discussion.