Sidewalks, also known as public walkways, can be understood as multifunctional open spaces where a range of activities occur, from pedestrian flow to social interaction.
From this perspective, public walkways have great potential to host green infrastructure solutions—such as rain gardens, bioswales, and stormwater planters—capable of providing a series of environmental services for cities. These include mitigating urban pollution (water, air, and soil), providing habitats for urban fauna, contributing to the control of stormwater runoff volume and velocity, and improving local microclimatic quality and thermal comfort for adjacent buildings through shading and evapotranspiration, in addition to serving as an aesthetic element.
Currently, emerging ecological sidewalk design techniques that add value and attractiveness to properties are well-known, utilized, and proven.
Course Content
This course presents design techniques and infrastructure solutions for green sidewalks that address emerging accessibility issues, namely:
Water
– Surface runoff management for urban water control;
– Underground water retention systems;
– Green infrastructure solutions: permeable paving, channels, rain gardens, bioswales, stormwater planters, and drainage trenches.
