VIDEO: Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter presents “Green City, Clean Waters”
Re-imagining the Urban Landscape
Philadelphia has developed a US$1.6 bllion plan to transform the city over the next 20 years. The plan envisions ‘peeling back’ a lot of the city’s concrete and asphalt and replace them with plants — rain gardens, green roofs, landscaped swales in parking lots, heavily planted boulevards, and small wetlands.
Green Stormwater Infrastructure
The City of Philadelphia’s vision is to protect and enhance its watersheds by managing rainwater runoff with innovative green stormwater infrastructure throughout the City, maximizing economic, social, and environmental benefits for Philadelphia.
Green stormwater infrastructure includes a range of soil-water-plant systems that intercept stormwater, infiltrate a portion of it into the ground, evaporate a portion of it into the air, and in some cases release a portion of it slowly back into the sewer system.
Integrating green stormwater infrastructure into a highly developed area such as Philadelphia requires a decentralized and creative approach to planning and design. Various tools can be implemented to accomplish this, including stormwater planters, rain gardens and green roofs. All of these tools help to reduce runoff volume and filter pollutants by intercepting stormwater runoff before it enters the City’s combined sewer system.
To Learn More:
Click here to view Philadelphia’s Mayor Michael Nutter’s “Charting New Waters” speech at the “Charting New Waters: A call to action to address US Freshwater Challenges” event held in Washington DC on September 10, 2010. Video posted by the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Watersheds on Vimeo.
To read more about Philadelphia’s bold plan for green infrastructure, click on these links to access stories previously published on Water Bucket :
- Clean Water….Green City: Blending the interests of land and water in Philadelphia
- Philadelphia’s bold plan for rainwater/stormwater management envisions “giant sponge”
- Philadelphia plans to invest $1.6 billion to turn a third of city green in next 20 years
And click here to access the homepage for the Philadelphia Water Department’s Office of Watersheds.
