A new analytical tool for a more deliberate implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems

This paper presents a new analytical tool for a more deliberate qualitative assessment of and guidance for the way Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are governed and technically implemented. It is the result of a combination of concepts from various alternative “sustainability” approaches and provides for the first time a set of detailed but not exhaustive aspects and sub-aspects that are critical for holistic implementation. A wide range of topics relevant for the attainment of radical change are embraced that had been rarely simultaneously considered in practice and research until now. Analyses at neighbourhood level in the solarCity (Linz, Austria) and Monges-Croix du Sud (Cornebarrieu, France), where SuDS have been comprehensively deployed, demonstrate the suitability of the tool for the provision of a more holistic perspective and direction for further change. Both projects represent the accomplishment of important steps towards sustainable stormwater management, but wider perspectives are required if the positive effects achieved are to be extended. Efforts have been made to understand the bio-physical traits of place prior to design and subsequently fulfil some technical demands, but reticence remains to: a) explore “closer to nature” solutions and transformative social considerations, and b) enter a continuous cycle of co-evolution.