Toward Designing Bioretention Landscapes for Tropical and Wet Equatorial Climates: A Systematic Literature Review

Cities worldwide face significant challenges in managing stormwater, a concern worsened by rapid urbanization and the impacts of climate change. Bioretention landscapes helped solve these issues by replicating natural ecosystems to effectively capture, filter, and treat stormwater while offering additional ecosystem services. However, most studies and existing guides have been for colder and drier climates. Adapting bioretention practices to tropical and wet equatorial climates, characterized by intense rainfall patterns and high temperature and humidity, presents unique challenges and knowledge gaps. This systematic literature review aims to address these gaps by synthesizing existing research from 2010 to 2022 on bioretention landscapes in tropical and wet equatorial climates. Following the methodology outlined in PRISMA guidelines, we identified 10 key studies primarily focusing on countries within the Köppen–Geiger climate zones Aw, Af, and Am, which are tropical and wet equatorial climates. These studies spanned across different continents, including locations such as Malaysia, Singapore, Burkina Faso, and India. Data synthesis revealed critical design elements, including planting selection, substrate layer composition, and performance metrics. Our findings highlight the necessity for climate-specific design approaches and identify key research gaps that can inform future studies and guide practical applications in designing bioretention landscapes for tropical and wet equatorial climates.