The GreenCityLabHuế project introduces this series of factsheets as a comprehensive introduction into nature-based solutions. Each instalment explores selected key aspects of NbS, ranging from their potential benefits to practical guidance into their collaborative planning and implementation. Aimed at policymakers, practitioners, and communities, these factsheets want to inspire effective and sustainable action towards climate resilience.
This factsheet spotlights green–blue infrastructure (GBI) as a practical, near-term pathway to strengthen Huế’s climate resilience. It explains what GBI and nature-based solutions (NbS) mean in the local context and why they matter now. Described as the city’s “green and blue fabric,” GBI ranges from small interventions—hedges and permeable paths—to larger assets like parks and urban forests. As NbS, these elements work together to reduce heat through shade and evapotranspiration, increase infiltration and delay peak flows, and restore microclimates along waterways—an approach aligned with Vietnam’s National Adaptation Plan. A concise “key considerations” checklist turns ambition into action for planners, communities, and city services. To aid quick comparison, a companion matrix shows how common GBI types in Huế contribute to seven ecosystem services—evapotranspiration, shading, infiltration, retention, air purification, biodiversity, and amenity—helping teams to shortlist measures to match local goals and site conditions and plan the design and long-term care needed to sustain benefits. Download the factsheet.
The factsheet references the following materials that we would like to suggest as further reading.
Dumitru, A., Wendling, L., 2021. Evaluation the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions: A Handbook for Practitioners. Luxembourg. Available via: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/d7d496b5-ad4e-11eb-9767-01aa75ed71a1
European Environment Agency, 2022. Who benefits from nature in cities? Social inequalities in access to urban green and blue spaces across Europe. Briefing no. 15/2021. Available via: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2800/041176
Frantzeskaki, N., 2019. Seven lessons for planning nature-based solutions in cities. Environmental Science & Policy, 93, pp. 101—111.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 2020. Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions. A user-friendly framework for the verification, design and scaling up of NbS. First edition. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. Available via: https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2020.08.en
Jongman, B., Osmanoglou, D., Van Zanten, B.T., Gonzalez Reguero, B., Macfarlane, D.M., Duma, L.J., Carrion, S.A., Rubinyi, S.L., 2021. A Catalogue of Nature-based Solutions for Urban Resilience. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Group. Available via: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/502101636360985715/A-Catalogue-of-Nature-based-Solutions-for-Urban-Resilience
Kabisch, N., Korn, H., Stadler, J., Bonn, A., Eds., 2017. Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Areas. Theory and Practice of Urban Sustainability Transitions. Springer, Cham.
Langemeyer, J., Maestre Andrés, S., Melo, I., Salmon, N., 2024. Planning, Designing and Monitoring of Nature-based Solutions: Guidelines to urban transformations. First edition. Bogotá, D.C. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Interlace. Available via: https://www.interlace-project.eu/sites/default/files/2025-02/Planning%2C%20designing%20and%20monitoring%20of%20nature-based%20solutions.%20Guidelines%20to%20urban%20transformations_.pdf
Norton, B.A., Coutts, A.M., Livesley, S.J., Harris, R.J., Hunter, A.M., Williams, N.S.G., 2015. Planning for cooler cities: A framework to prioritise green infrastructure to mitigate high temperatures in urban landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning, 134, pp.127-138.
Scheuer, S., Jache, J., Stolpe, F., Weinhold, T., Hoang, T.B.M., Rüthers, M., Nguyen, N.T., Nguyen, N.Y.N. (2025). Green City Vision Hue – Promoting nature-based solutions for urban planning. The case of Hue City, Central Vietnam. BMFTR funded project GreenCityLabHuế, FKZ 01LE1910A1/ FKZ 01LE1910B1.
Sowińska-Świerkosz, B., García, J., 2022. What are Nature-based solutions (NBS)? Setting core ideas for concept clarification. Nature-Based Solutions, 2.
Sumfleth, L., Scheuer, S., Jache, J., Stolpe, F., Rüthers, M., Hoang, T.B.M. (2024). Urban green-blue infrastructure as nature-based solutions for urban heat adaptation – A best practices handbook for tropical cities in Southeast Asia. The Case of Hue City, Central Vietnam. BMBF funded project GreenCityLabHuế, FKZ 01LE1910A1/ FKZ 01LE1910B1.
Zhang, B., MacKenzie, A., 2024. Trade-offs and synergies in urban green infrastructure: A systematic review. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 94.
Selected sources regarding ecosystem service potential of selected GBI types (cf. companion matrix):
Abhijith, K.V., Kumar, P., Gallagher, J., McNabola, A., Baldauf, R., Pilla, F., Broderick, B., Di Sabatino, S., Pulvirenti, B., 2017. Air pollution abatement performances of green infra-structure in open road and built-up street canyon environments – A review. Atmospheric Environment, 162, pp. 71-86.
Benton, J.S., Cotterill, S., Anderson, J., Macintyre, V.G., Gittins, M., Dennis, M., French, D.P., 2021. A natural experimental study of improvements along an urban canal: impact on canal usage, physical activity and other wellbeing behaviours. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 18.
Berland, A., Shiflett, S.A., Shuster, W.D., Garmestani, A.S., Goddard, H.C., Herrmann, D.L., Hopton, M.E., 2017. The role of trees in urban stormwater management. Landscape and Urban Planning, 162, pp.167-177.
Calvet-Mir, L., Gómez-Baggethun, E., Reyes-García, V., 2012. Beyond food production: Ecosystem services provided by home gardens. A case study in Vall Fosca, Catalan Pyre-nees, Northeastern Spain. Ecological Economics, 74, pp. 153-160.
Eisenberg, B., Polcher, V., Chiesa, C., 2019. Nature Based Solutions – Technical Hand-book, Part I & II. Technical Report. EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, grant No 730052.
Everett, G., Lamond, J.E., Morzillo, A.T., Matsler, A.M., Chan, F.K.S., 2018. Delivering Green Streets: an exploration of changing perceptions and behaviours over time around bioswales in Portland, Oregon. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 11(52), pp. S973-S985.
Jacobs, C., Klok, L., Bruse, M., Cortesão, J., Lenzholzer, S., Kluck, J., 2020. Are urban wa-ter bodies really cooling? Urban Climate, 32, 100607.
Kumar P., Corada K., Debele S.E., et al., 2024. Air pollution abatement from Green-Blue-Grey infrastructure. The Innovation Geoscience 2(4): 100100.
Kumar, P., Zavala-Reyes, J.C., Tomson, M., Kalaiarasan, G., 2022. Understanding the ef-fects of roadside hedges on the horizontal and vertical distributions of air pollutants in street canyons. Environment International, 158.
Liang, D., Huang, G., 2023. Influence of Urban Tree Traits on Their Ecosystem Services: A Literature Review. Land, 12(9), 1699.
Mladenović, E., Lakićević, M., Pavlović, L., Hiel, K., Padejčev, J., 2017. Opportunities and Benefits of Green Balconies and Terraces in Urban Conditions. Contemporary Agricul-ture, 66(3-4), pp. 38-45.
Nofal, E., Eid, A., Morsy, W., Alsittawy, M., 2024. Assessing the impacts of canal rehabili-tation and lining on groundwater conditions. Water Science, 38(1), pp. 348-358.
Oberndorfer, E., Lundholm, J., Bass, B., Coffman, R.R., Doshi, H., Dunnett, N., Gaffin, S., Köhler, M., Liu, K.K.Y., Rowe, B., 2007. Green Roofs as Urban Ecosystems: Ecological Structures, Functions, and Services. BioScience, 57(10), pp.823-833.
Oertli, B., Parris, K.M., 2019. Review: Toward management of urban ponds for freshwater biodiversity. Ecosphere, 10(7).
Radić, M., Brković Dodig, M., Auer, T., 2019. Green Facades and Living Walls—A Review Establishing the Classification of Construction Types and Mapping the Benefits. Sustaina-bility, 11(17), 4579.
Säumel, I., Weber, F., Kowarik, I., 2016. Toward livable and healthy urban streets: Road-side vegetation provides ecosystem services where people live and move. Environmental Science & Policy, 62, pp. 24-33.
Scholz, M., Grabowiecki, P., 2007. Review of permeable pavement systems. Building and Environment, 42(11), pp. 3830-3836.
Smith, N., Georgiou, M., King, A.C., Tieges, Z., Webb, S., Chastin, S., 2021. Urban blue spaces and human health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of quantitative studies. Cities, 119, 103413.
Starke, P., Göbel, P., Coldewey, W.G., 2010. Urban evaporation rates for water-permeable pavements. Water Science & Technology, 62(5), pp. 1161-1169.
Tiago, P., Leal, A.I., Matos Silva, C., 2024. Assessing Ecological Gains: A Review of How Arthropods, Bats and Birds Benefit from Green Roofs and Walls. Environments, 11(4), 76.
Tomson, M., Kumar, P., Barwise, Y., Perez, P., Forehead, H., French, K., Morawska, L., Watts, J.F., 2021. Green infrastructure for air quality improvement in street canyons. Envi-ronment International, 146, 106288.
Verbeeck, K., Van Rompuy, R., Hermy, M., Van Orshoven, J., 2013. Infiltrating into the paved garden – a functional evaluation of parcel imperviousness in terms of water reten-tion efficiency. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 57(10), pp.1552-1571.
Wang, J.W., Poh, C.H., Tan, C.Y.T., Lee, V.N., Jain, A., Webb, E.L., 2017. Building biodiver-sity: drivers of bird and butterfly diversity on tropical urban roof gardens. Ecosphere, 8(9), e01905.
Wlodarczyk, A.M., Dias Mascarenhas, J.M.R., 2016. Nature in cities. Renaturalization of riverbanks in urban areas. Open Engineering, 6(1), pp.681-690.
Wong, N.H., Tan, P.Y., Chen, Y., 2007. Study of thermal performance of extensive rooftop greenery systems in the tropical climate. Building and Environment, 42(1), pp.25-54.
Yau, W.K., Radhakrishnan, M., Liong, S.-Y., Zevenbergen, C., Pathirana, A., 2017. Effec-tiveness of ABC Waters Design Features for Runoff Quantity Control in Urban Singapore. Water, 9(8), 577.
Zheng, X., Zou, Y., Lounsbury, A.W., Wang, C., Wang, R., 2021. Green roofs for storm-water runoff retention: A global quantitative synthesis of the performance. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 170, 105577.
