Exploring the Significance of Social-Ecological Systems Approach in Urban Green Infrastructure Planning for Sustainable Climate Resilient Cities

The world is facing a myriad of challenges posed by climate change. When coupled with accelerated urbanization these challenges are multiplied. To face these it is necessary to have sustainable and resilient infrastructure. Along with grey infrastructure, it is essential to consider green spaces, waterbodies, wetlands, parks, gardens, etc. as a part of a city’s infrastructure, as they provide Ecosystem Services (ES) vital for survival and well-being of all, and reduce the load on traditional grey infrastructure. This concept is termed as Green Infrastructure (GI). When effectively planned and implemented, GI forms a Social-Ecological System (SES) where society works on maintaining and protecting ecology, and is in turn provided with ES. This paper explores how SES approach towards GI planning can result in better system resilience while facing climate change challenges. This includes reviewing academic papers where SES approach towards GI is discussed, delineating the major thematic areas and their contribution to sustainability and climate resilience, and case studies that analyse this approach in Indian cities. It was found that when GI is panned through SES lens, society and ecology tend to serve and protect each other, thus sustainably maintaining the system resilience while confronting climate change. However, in the selected case studies this approach was found to be limited. The current paper recommends that city authorities should focus on social-ecological aspects like participatory approach, collaboration between organizations, and social and ecological connections and contexts while planning for GI.