Jayasooriya, Varuni Maheshika (2016) Optimization of green infrastructure practices for industrial areas. PhD thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

Industrial areas are environmentally degraded land areas with multiple environmental issues. Majority of industrial areas are surrounded by residential and commercial areas due to the ease of access for material and human resources. Annual discharge of larger volumes of contaminated stormwater to receiving water bodies and the air pollution are two major environmental problems for such areas. Green Infrastructure (GI) practices are known as a land conservation strategy which introduces green space in urban areas. These practices also contain various components that can improve the quality of stormwater discharges and air quality in urban areas. For optimization of GI for a particular area, several studies have been conducted in the past by addressing the problem as a single objective optimization problem by minimizing the associated costs. For a complex land use like an industrial area, the reality in optimizing GI can incorporate several other aspects related to environmental, economic and social objectives which are expected of GI through their implementation. The optimization process of GI practices for a specific area includes the selection of most suitable practices that provides the required benefits for the area alongside with their optimal sizing. In the current practice, optimal selection and sizing of GI practices is generally conducted based on the expert judgement, and there are no systematic methodologies currently available for this process. Especially for a complex land use like an industrial area where there exist high environmental demands, methodologies should be developed for the optimum selection and sizing of GI practices. This research was aimed at developing a novel methodology to optimize GI practices to mitigate stormwater and air pollution in industrial areas by combining several techniques such as mathematical optimization, simulation modelling, performance measure analysis, Delphi survey and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis. The proposed methodology considered various important aspects during the optimization process such as addressing the required environmental demands in industrial areas, land area constraints, stakeholder opinions and multiple environmental, economic and social benefits of GI practices. The generic methodology proposed in this study has been successful in identifying the optimum GI practices and their optimum sizes to treat stormwater and improve air quality for a case study industrial area in Melbourne, Australia. The results of this innovative methodology applied to the case study area demonstrated its applicability and efficiency in optimizing GI practices for industrial areas. This research has contributed to the current knowledge base on GI by introducing an innovative approach to enhance the optimization and decision making of GI planning process.

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