Landscape as infrastructure: the performance of Green Infrastructure in the Jaguaré\'s Creek Watershed as a model to intervene in the Fluvial landscapes of the City of São Paulo.

Author(s)

Carme Marchí Castañer

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU/SBI)
• Defense date: 2018-12-11

Examining board members

Paulo Renato Mesquita Pellegrino; Maria de Sampaio Bonafé; Marcelo Eduardo Giacaglia; José Rodolfo Scarati Martins

• Advisor: Paulo Renato Mesquita Pellegrino

Abstract

Urbanization in São Paulo Metropolitan Region (SPMR) causes the degradation of local waters and interferes in the natural hydrology of the place. This has a large impact in the local economy and well-being of its citizens. As the city expands, fluvial ecosystems are turned into channels and covered pipes that rapidly evacuate the rainwater. At the same time, these conventional systems have no contribution to biodiversity or water quality, which was originally regulated through biological, physical and chemical processes provided by the riparian forests. This work evaluates the efficiency of alternative water management models based on the use of Green Infrastructure typologies, vegetated systems that recover hydrological functions to control contamination and restore natural hydrology. This systems are explores within the Pilot Program for Watershed Restoration in São Paulo. On one site, a Sustainable Urban Drainage scheme (SUDs) composed by bioretention systems is proposed as a source control of runoff and its sediment removal efficiency is simulated on the Água Podre\'s sub-catchment, localized in the periphery of São Paulo. The results are obtained using the Sartor & Boyd exponential formula and the EPA-XPSWMM software for two isolated rainstorms with different precedent dry conditions, according to São Paulo rainfall-intensity patterns; then, the water quality volume is established according to 90% reduction of the initial sediment accumulated on the streets. On the other side, a Horizontal Sub-Surface Flow Constructed Wetland is proposed to reduce organic matter in-stream and its efficiency is estimated using the First-order Degradation Model K-C*. These and other Green Infrastructure solutions are visualized in different contexts of the city where original fluvial landscapes have been transformed to discuss about their performance to improve water quality and contribute to existing urban and social conditions within broader landscape projects. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/05703-5 - Landscape project for water urban infrastructures. The Jaguare Creek, SP. SP
• Grantee: Carme Machí Castañer
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate