Increased protection against flooding

The historical canal that was disconnected by a road in the 1970s is currently being restored by the municipality, creating a lively atmosphere allowing for water recreation, a boulevard and green spaces (ref. 1). A small element of this restoration is the addition of green elements by a citizen group, which entails improving ecological, aesthetic and historical quality of the canal by implementing eco-friendly riverbanks, green connecting zones and floating vegetation islands (ref. 3,9,11,12).

Wakefield Council is "responsible for managing over 2650 acres of grass in parks and countryside areas across the Wakefield district (this includes cutting the grass)". Since 2015, there are small areas where "the grass is being left to grow" naturally for environmental benefits. (Ref. 1) The objective of the project by leaving derelict some grass areas are that "the environmental benefits of leaving some grass to grow naturally include encouraging wild flowers to grow which will support bees and other insects, and aiding drainage to reduce flood risk" (Ref 1).

The Polder Roof is a green roof originally installed on the top of the Old School Amsterdam, Gaasterlandstraat, Amsterdam with innovative controllable water storage and drainage system on which crops are grown, solar panels are installed and that provides space for recreation. (1,2) Thereby, it combines multiple benefits including the reduction of heat stress, noise reduction, sustainable energy provision, biodiversity, food production and climate change adaptation (2,7). The Polder Roof was a pilot project that won an innovation award and is viewed as an example for urban climate change adaptation solutions. (2).

In 2019, due to the renovation of the former Old School building, it was necessary to relocate the Polder roof to a different place. The Polder Roof is a completely de-mountable system, made up of crates with a sedum layer on top, thus it could be removed quite easily from the Old School roof and put somewhere else. In the name of circularity, the sustainable drainage system was moved to the roof of the South Food Bank building. (10,11,12) With the relocation of the Polder Roof system, however, the size of the green roof has decreased to 1200 sqm from 2010 sqm (2).

Due to the challenges caused by climate change, Hamburg decided to become greener and developed a comprehensive, pioneering green roof strategy. The strategy aims at creating 100 hectares of new green walls by 2019 by providing grants for building owners for greening roofs and offering them rain water fee reduction owing to the rain water retention of the green roofs. (Reference 1) The financial support offered until the end of 2019 is 3 million EUR. (Reference 2) The services offered by the city in this plan consist of four pillars: promotion (financial incentive), dialogue, regulation, and scientific support. (Reference 7)

The city of Salford has experienced several floods and is at risk of flooding once every 100 years (Ref1). The majority of properties in the city that lie in a high-risk flood zone are in the floodplain of the Irwell. The UK's Environment Agency and the council, designed a flood prevention scheme which included temporary water storage areas which will store floodwater on the existing Castle Irwell playing fields and public open space, and double as sports area otherwise (Ref 5). It aimed to have its own wetland and wildlife habitat, and will help protect hundreds of homes and businesses (Ref 4).

Three London Plane trees were planted in a specially designed trench in Howard Street, Salford, Greater Manchester in 2015 with the aim of capturing the impact that trees had on both cleaning polluted water from road runoff and managing levels of surface water, which can lead to flooding when not properly managed (ref 1). This project in the City of Salford was created to study how trees can aid in the management of urban stormwater as a novel retrofitted street tree demonstration (ref 3). It was led by Manchester's City of Trees movement. (Ref 3)

The Environment Agency, Manchester City Council and the Irwell Rivers Trust had undertaken works to renaturalise a section of the River Medlock running through Manchester. The project had sought to return the river to its natural state by widening the channel and replacing the Victorian brick lining with gravel that provides a more natural-looking and fish-friendly section of the river and reduces flood risk at the same time (ref. 3). The project was also being seen as an EU exemplar of how to go about restoring an urban river (ref. 1, ref. 7).

The Revealing the Roch project uncovered two sections of the River Roch to expose a historic bridge which had been hidden for over 100 years (ref 1). Re-opening and deculverting the River Roch and bridge has a tangible benefit by reducing flood risk for the town (ref 4). The scheme, which is a key part of Rochdale town centre’s ongoing regeneration programme will help reduce flood risk in the town center and create educational opportunities. The project also includes enhancing the natural heritage of the river by introducing features that encourage river vegetation and creatures to re-establish themselves (ref 5). The project has since led to a wildlife boost, with brown trout, bullhead fish, heron and kingfishers all being seen since construction work to open the river began. (Ref 3). As the River Roch connects to River Mersey which empties into the North Atlantic ocean, this intervention addresses marine ecosystem restoration as well.

New Bolton Woods Ltd is a development partnership between the regeneration company Urbo and Bradford Council (ref5). This project aims to create a new sustainable urban neighbourhood, linked to the existing Bolton Woods. As the majority of the proposed development is situated on land which falls within Flood Zone, a range of measures including the raising of ground floor levels, and incorporation of sustainable drainage techniques will be used to manage runoff.
The project intends to provide a series of well landscaped, high-quality open areas and parks for the community. There is potential for a long term phased canal restoration (ref. 1). The second stage,145 houses are currently under construction on the slopes off Poplars Park Avenue, overlooking Canal Road, and are due to be completed by 2021 (ref 6). West Yorkshire Ecological Service raised concerns that the development would lead to a loss of woodland (ref 6).

Coal mining in the Dearne Valley damaged the Dearne Valley landscape. To address these problems the Dearne Valley Green Heart partnership was formed in 2006, but the intervention discussed here is specifically related to the developments between 2012 and 2015, when it was founded as a Nature Improvement Area. It is part of the South Yorkshire Delivery Programme and part of the Doncaster Council as also being part of the Doncaster Green Infrastructure Strategy (Ref 1, 2).