3.00 Credits
Green Infrastructure (aka blue-green infrastructure) uses natural systems and processes to provide multiple essential services and benefits to communities. More than a technology, green infrastructure is an approach, a way of thinking about planning, design, engineering and construction of human habitats. The logic of this approach is that human settlements are an inherent product of, and a part of, natural systems. Our settlements will function more efficiently for less cost, and be more resilient, healthy, prosperous and fulfilling if we turn to nature first in thinking about infrastructure. The approach of green infrastructure is unified by the following basic principles: natural systems are integral to urban ecosystems; green infrastructure should serve multiple purposes; GI is the product of interdisciplinary collaboration; GI generates unique outcomes adapted to place. Green Infrastructure crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries and a wide range of spatial scales. It has strong bases in ecology, engineering, landscape architecture, and urban planning and design. The approach applies from a site to regional scales.