Effectiveness of Urban Green Infrastructure: Management Challenges in the City of Vancouver, British Columbia

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The accelerated climate change and the associated more intense and frequent extreme weather events have caught worldwide attention, and urban environments are significantly more vulnerable to the problem. Likewise, Metro Vancouver also encounters increased urban heat island effects, disturbed water balance, degraded ecosystem services, and other stressors from climate variabilities. In response to the current situation, the city extensively encourages the operations of green infrastructure initiatives, seeing them as mitigation solutions for future climate change due to the potential advantages. However, the challenges of incorporating them into urban landscapes have not been well explored. Also, there is currently a lack of awareness of the monitoring needs after the construction. Therefore, the project aims to determine the benefits and challenges of using urban trees and constructed wetlands as green infrastructure initiatives in the city. Meanwhile, highlight the monitoring requirements for sustaining the efforts. Based on the systematic literature review, urban trees and constructed wetlands play a key role in sustainable water management and mitigating the leading factors and impacts of climate variabilities. However, they are also susceptible to short-term extreme weather events and longterm climate warming, which may impede their functionalities and lead to adverse environmental impacts. Consequently, a monitoring program that provides clear guidelines for relevant indicator assessments and appropriate frequency is necessary for determining the effectiveness of the green infrastructure performance and providing directions for further management. Beyond that, the collaboration between different groups, including the public, experts, local government, and nongovernmental organizations, can improve the efficiencies but can be challenging. In addition to the monitoring needs, the city should raise concerns about plant susceptibility to climate change and understand the various trade-offs between broadleaf and coniferous trees, developing a more resilient species composition in the city. More research on wetland plants and their responses to heat stress and other climate variabilities is particularly needed.