Reconceptualizing green infrastructure for climate change adaptation Barriers to adoption and drivers for uptake by spatial planners》.pdf

Landscape and Urban Planning 138 (2015) 155–163 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Landscape and Urban Planning j o u r n a l h o me p a g e : w w w. elsev /locate/lan durbplan Research Paper Reconceptualizing green infrastructure for climate change adaptation: Barriers to adoption and drivers for uptake by spatial planners Tony Matthews a,∗ , Alex Y. Lo b , Jason A. Byrne c a Property Planning Discipline, Civil Engineering and Built Environment School, Queensland University of Technology, Gardens Point Campus, 2 George Street, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia b The Kadoorie Institute, 8/F, T.T. Tsui Building, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China c Griffith School of Environment and Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Queensland 4222, Australia h i g h l i g h t s • The paper defines the concept of green infrastructure within the context of climate adaptation. • Green infrastructure uptake is subject to biophysical and socio-political constraints. • Interviews with planners indicate tendencies for institutional path dependence. • We discuss this as an institutional barrier to the green infrastructure adoption. • We propose a conceptual model that explicitly recognizes such institutional factors. a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Urban green infrastructure can help cities adapt to climate change. Spatial planning can play an important Available online 16 March 2015 role in utilizing green infrastructure for adaptation. Yet climate change risks represent a different sort of