Development of a Multicriteria Scheme for the Identification of Strategic Areas for SUDS Implementation: A Case Study from Gijón, Spain

Antonio Menéndez Suárez-Inclán, Cristina Allende-Prieto, Jorge Roces-García, Juan P. Rodríguez-Sánchez, Luis A. Sañudo-Fontaneda, Carlos Rey-Mahía, Felipe P. Álvarez-Rabanal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
35 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Spain has been pinpointed as one of the European countries at major risk of extreme urban events. Thus, Spanish cities pursue new urban plans to increase their resilience. In this scenario, experiences in the implementation of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) have increased substantially. Nevertheless, few cities have developed a global urban strategy for SUDS, lacking, in many cases, a method to identify strategic areas to maximize their synergetic benefits. Furthermore, there is still a need for a holistic Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) framework that considers the four pillars of SUDS design. The city of Gijón, NW Spain, has been selected as a case study due to its environmental and climatic stresses. This research presents the methodology developed for this city, which aims to analyze the need for SUDS implementation throughout the identification of strategic areas. With this aim, a combination of Geographic Information System (GIS) software and the MCDA Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) were proposed. The results show the potential for SUDS’ implementation, according to nine criteria related to the SUDS’ design pillars. We found that the areas where the implementation of SUDS would bring the greatest functional, environmental and social benefits are mainly located in consolidated urban areas.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2877
Number of pages20
JournalSustainability (Switzerland)
Volume14
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

Funder

This work was partially supported by the Council of Gij?n through the University Institute of Industrial Technology of Asturias (Ref. IUTA-20-GIJON-01). The views and opinions ex-pressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the IUTA. This investigation was also funded the Gij?n Water Company (Empresa Municipal de Aguas S.A.) through the project with reference number FUO-21-226. Acknowledgments: The authors thank the Gij?n Water Company (Empresa Municipal de Aguas S.A.), the Cantabrian Hydrographic Confederation (Confederaci?n Hidrogr?fica del Cant?brico, Ministerio para la Transici?n Ecol?gica y el Reto Demogr?fico) and the Environmental Engineering Research Center, University of los Andes, Colombia for their support in the development of this project.

Funding Information:
Funding: This work was partially supported by the Council of Gijón through the University Institute of Industrial Technology of Asturias (Ref. IUTA-20-GIJON-01). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the IUTA. This investigation was also funded the Gijón Water Company (Empresa Municipal de Aguas S.A.) through the project with reference number FUO-21-226.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • AHP
  • Bio-urbanism
  • MCDA
  • NBS
  • Smart and resilient water cities
  • SUDS location
  • Urban drainage planning

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

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