The combined challenges of climate change, finite resources, population growth and aging infrastructure demand a shift toward more resource-efficient, low-carbon sustainable cities. This may be achieved through new forms of eco-infrastructure delivered at the district scale. Despite considerable success in numerous demonstration projects globally, such development has not yet become mainstream. Finance remains a key obstacle preventing wide-spread implementation.
This paper suggests that new funding models are needed that can help spread the costs of the infrastructure over a longer time period and across different land titles. It highlights a range of possible funding options and introduces the concept of Green Regenerative Improvement Districts, or ‘GRID’, as a possible new governance mechanism that could assist with financing and managing precinct scale ecoinfrastructure.
Read the paper in this document pp. 140-146: http://bit.ly/2mW4040