Urban Stormwater Governance Based on Green Infrastructure: A Case Study of Philadelphia

The new generation of urban stormwater governance is beyond the engineering perspective of green infrastructure installation. It is a complex and dynamic process of involving multiple stakeholders in the loop of decision-making, implementation, evaluation and feedback. This paper analyzes the main modes of urban stormwater governance in the US. It reviews the implementation of the “Green City, Clean Water” program designed by the City of Philadelphia, which characterized as parcel-based stormwater management at city scale. Stormwater governance in Philadelphia is a top-down governance process led by the Water Department. It emphasizes the combination of green and grey infrastructure. After establishing the overall objectives, it systematically decomposed these into several phases and land uses during implementation to ensure feasibility. Learning from the case of Philadelphia, this paper proposes that the cross-sectoral and multi-scale coordination should be established for China’s urban stormwater governance, and the goals of stormwater management need to be integrated into the urban planning regime. Environmental justice, open data and visualization, as well as cost control are also important to be addressed. 关键词: 绿色基础设施;雨洪管治;多主体参与;费城