Paper

An Alternative Futures Approach to Green Infrastructure Planning for an Increasing Population

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Abstract

In 2017, the U.S. Census Bureau announced Idaho to be the fastest growing state by population in the country. As these trends continue, this growth can have various impacts on socio-ecological systems such as increased development, pressure exerted on agricultural production, and increased effects of urban stream syndrome. Various scenarios, driven by stakeholders, can help effectively guide the designs of our green infrastructure networks. This project evokes stakeholder-defined key issues addressed within a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project in Idaho’s Magic Valley. Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems (INFEWS) is an interdisciplinary research initiative seeking to address issues concerning drought, water demand, water quality, and food security by using a stakeholder-driven alternative futures framework (Steinitz 2012).

Researchers within the project seek to operationalize stakeholder-driven assumptions for various scenarios utilizing the planning and suitability of effective Best Management Practices (BMPs) for the Magic Valley in Idaho. The project will utilize an alternative futures methodology to interpret and represent rural and urban green infrastructure interventions at various locations within the watershed. This approach has the potential to operate at various scales and, through this project, we seek to construct the narrative at both the landscape and the site scale.

The results aim to provide policy makers, planners, developers, and landscape architects about siting various BMP types through a framework for planning and design. These outputs will also depict modeled landscape change via various scenario solutions. The stakeholder group will substantiate plausible solutions and scenarios for the Valley, which will guide the green infrastructure network. Once validated, we will focus on the siting of three different structural BMP networks to address water quality, water quantity, soil health, and inclusion of public green space.

Keywords: Green Infrastructure, GeoDesign, Alternative Futures

How to Cite:

Cronan, D., Kliskey, A. D., Trammell, J., Lorentzen, C., Griffith, D. L. & Williams, P., (2019) “An Alternative Futures Approach to Green Infrastructure Planning for an Increasing Population”, Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning 6(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.7275/evjy-c088