Exploring synergy/trade-offs of urban green infrastructure strategies of Taipei - a systemic approach

The synergy/trade-offs between strategies of mitigating and adapting to climate change have been highlighted by the IPCC assessment reports. Despite awareness of green infrastructure (GI) for mitigating and adapting to climate change, attempts to use a systems approach for assessing their synergies and trade-offs remains limited. This study developed an ecological–economic model of the Taipei Metropolitan area. Changes of effects on climate change adaptation and mitigation provided by GI are simulated for assessing the overall climate change impacts of different GI strategies. We established a framework to analyze the temporal variation of the climate benefits of GI concerning the changes in carbon storage, accumulated runoff, and carbon dioxide emissions due to land use change. The results show that almost all GI strategies have synergies with mitigating and adapting to climate change. Implementing urban growth management strategies to preserve the integrity of GI is the most effective way to maximize synergies in a developing city. Although GI strategies can create synergistic effect, internal trade-offs can also emerge alongside synergies. Using a systems approach to simulate alternative climate strategies allows for joint consideration of mitigation and adaptation and to enhance synergies and eliminate trade-offs of urban climate policies.