A Review of Urban Green and Blue Infrastructure from the Perspective of Food-Energy-Water Nexus

Urban Farm DB summary

This review article examines knowledge gaps regarding small-scale urban green-blue infrastructure (GBI) from the perspective of the food-energy-water (FEW) nexus, focusing on the literature on urban ecosystem services (positive effects) and dis-services (negative effects) associated with different GBI typologies. It found that GBI can contribute environmentally, socially, and economically to FEW security and urban sustainability, but that these positive effects must be weighed against ecosystem dis-service tradeoffs: urban food production is commonly connected with heavy water and energy consumption, particularly under dry climate conditions, and is sometimes linked to excessive use of manure, pesticides, or fertilizers that can pose risks to water quality and local insect survival, or to enhanced mosquito breeding from irrigation. The review also found that few nexus modeling techniques have been discussed in terms of their benefits, drawbacks, and applications.