Assessing the economic and environmental benefits of blue-green infrastructure to increase urban resilience to climate change

Climate change and intensive urbanisation pose large-scale challenges to engineering infrastructure and the livelihoods of the population in cities, in particular in the form of floods, soil degradation, droughts and increased pollution. The study focuses on the use of blue-green infrastructure (BGI) elements to improve climate resilience and ensure multifunctional development of urban areas. The article analyses the international experience of implementing the sponge city concept with a focus on the role of green structures. Particular attention is paid to assessing the costs and benefits of implementing BGI projects, in particular, the relationship between investment costs and positive effects, such as energy savings, carbon sequestration, improved air quality, and reduced urban heat island intensity. A comprehensive method for assessing the economic and environmental performance of BGI's facilities has been developed, including quantifying energy savings, determining the amount of CO2 sequestration, oxygen production by green structures, and economic evaluation of the benefits of oxygen release. The method also includes an analysis of environmental benefits throughout the life cycle of BGI's facilities, calculation of life cycle costs and estimation of construction costs for individual infrastructure elements. For the applied assessment of economic and environmental benefits, a calculation based on green pavement was made, taking into account its impact on climate change mitigation. Design solutions aimed at reducing the heat load in the urban environment are proposed, in particular, the potential of facade and roof structures to improve cooling and moisture retention efficiency is revealed. The possibilities of using BGI elements for cooling the urban microclimate are determined. The study was carried out as part of the international Erasmus+ and ClimEd projects aimed at developing climate-oriented education and sustainable urban planning.