Placemaking and Blue Green Infrastructure for Liveable, Resilient Places: Insights from Dundee, Scotland

Abstract

Climate change means that urban areas are experiencing more extreme weather events. Although effective, grey infrastructure solutions to flooding have been criticised for harming the environment, having a negative impact on place and not delivering social and wellbeing benefits. There is increasing interest in using natural elements, such as rain gardens and green roofs, in combination with a placemaking approach to facilitate solutions to flooding that deliver multiple benefits. However, the means to achieve this is poorly understood.

This paper contributes to the limited knowledge base on how placemaking and adaptation measures can be integrated in urban areas to meet the needs of communities. This was achieved through research undertaken in the Dundee local authority area. This area faces threats from groundwater, coastal and surface water flooding and a range of socio-economic challenges. Findings from 24 semi-structured interviews with practitioners and community group members (CGMs) suggest that while placemaking and blue green infrastructure (BGI) can deliver multiple benefits, the realisation of these can be hampered by a range of obstacles. For example, a lack of clear consensus on who is responsible for maintenance and a preference for grey infrastructure solutions. Practical guidance is provided to help overcome the obstacles identified to enhance flood resilient and liveable places. This guidance will be particularly relevant to colleagues in academia, planners, policy makers and a range of practitioners with a remit in flood risk management, climate change and water management and the communities they serve. 

Ethical Compliance: This study received ethical approval on January 30 2024 from the School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law Ethics Committee at the University of Dundee, approval number UoD-SHSL-EES-PGR-23/24-001.