Investigating the economic value of green infrastructure in urban development and planning

The term Green Infrastructure (GI) is being increasingly used in both policy and urban development settings. Covering everything from green roofs, permeable pavements and living nature strips to smart parks, increased tree coverage and water harvesting and recycling, it has been touted as a solution to making increasingly dense urban environments more liveable. But many development projects in Australia show varying levels of success in truly bringing the concepts of GI into planning policy and construction. While there is a growing body of literature showing the benefits of implementing GI, there is a dearth of research focused on the economic case of GI and its role in the decision-making process. This research aims to partially address that lack of knowledge around how and why GI is, or is not, incorporated into the decisions of the planning and development community. Through a mixed-methods approach of literature review and qualitative and quantitative research techniques including semi-structured interviews of key participants, who have an impact on the planning, approval and construction of large-scale urban developments, this paper examines where and how GI is incorporated into those decision-making processes.