Nature-based infrastructure for urban water

Exploiting the potential of Brasília’s green areas.

Abstract

The traditional drainage system disregards the hydrological cycle and aims to quickly drain rainwater away, configuring a linear metabolism for the cities.  Brasilia is an example of the implementation of this infrastructure paradigm and despite having a huge amount of green areas these have little function of infiltration. This is because many of these areas are residual spaces that do not fulfill their ecosystemic function nor their social function, as is the case of the 110/111 block of the North Wing of the Plano Piloto, the project object of this study. This is due to the high degree of soil compaction (due to the replacement of the vegetation cover by grass) and the lack of landscape treatment and urban equipment for collective use. This research, based on nature-based infrastructure, proposes an intervention project in the area of the aforementioned precinct for the implementation of detention basins, a Low Impact Development (LID) device that uses hydrological simulations to treat the landscape with green infrastructure techniques. This project seeks to demonstrate that it is possible and necessary to rethink the urban logic, and concludes that green infrastructure techniques, when associated with landscape architecture, generate multifunctional, quality spaces that promote urban and community life, sustainability and appropriate management of urban water.

KEYWORDS: Green Infrastructure. Sustanaible drainage. Multifuncionality of spaces.