Green buffer areas and green roofs: performance design to improve the urban water cycle

Abstract While in all Europe the land use does not decrease – contrary to EU soil strategy that would actualize the zero net land use by 2050 – cities are plagued by problems such as air pollution, urban heat island effect and uncontrolled run-off following intense rain events, which degrade the environment threatening the health and the safety of inhabitants. The impermeable materials and are responsible for the worsening of the urban water cycle and, at the same time, for the increase in summer air temperatures: both those effects can be mitigated by nature-based and draining solutions. The paper explains the hydrological phenomena of the urban impervious surfaces, highlighting the typical functional defects, providing then a list of various green technologies suitable to overcome the common issues of city centers like high density / reduced spaces, irreversible impervious surfaces, undersized drainage, presence of sub-structures / sub-systems, conservation of architectural heritage. The technical green solutions on the ground (bio-retention systems, rain gardens, trees, pervious pavements…) and on the roofs, specifically designed, behave 1) as a buffer for the stormwater and superficial run-off, being able to collect water, 2) as providers of side effects that can affect water quality, biodiversity, amenity in cities. Experimental results from a rain simulation are presented in order to argue potentials and limitations of these solutions, often narrated as salvific, or, on the contrary, underestimated in their technological specificities.