BlueGreenStreets – Adapting Urban Streets for Climate Change

Strategies for the adaptation of cities to the consequences of climate change such as dry periods, heat waves and urban flooding are needed. As urban streets account for about 25% of the area in inner-city neighbourhoods, they also have to be included. In the project BlueGreenStreets concepts are being developed to increase the resilience of cities by means of blue-green infrastructure in urban streets. The basic philosophy is to develop streets as 'multi-talents', taking into account not only the traffic function but also the requirements of urban drainage and green infrastructure. Concepts for the multidimensional redesign and retrifiting of existing streets in urban neighbourhoods are being developed, and tested in pilot projects. Two innovative solutions “the street as a drain” and “stormwater tree pits” are presented in detail.