Green roofs in city could reduce travel disruption during flooding Published on: 17 May 2016 Travel times in the event of a flood on the scale of ‘Thunder Thursday’ could be improved by more than a quarter if a city-wide green roof strategy was adopted, experts say. Blue Green Infrastructure Using Â鶹´«Ã½ city centre as a case study, researchers at Â鶹´«Ã½ compared the effectiveness of urban ‘blue green infrastructure’ such as green roofs, ponds, and water channels with traditional engineering measures such as culverts or flood walls in reducing transport disruption during extreme rainfall events like the one that occurred on 28 June 2012, and became known as 'Thunder Thursday'. In research published in the Royal Society Open Science journal, they found that greening every roof in the city could reduce travel disruption by just over 25%. Blue green infrastructure uses natural processes to store rainwater and decrease the amount released onto roads and pavements. As a result, the depth of flooding is reduced which can make its impact more manageable. , Professor of Earth Systems Engineering, Â鶹´«Ã½, said: “We saw on the massive amount of damage and disruption that flooding can have on our transport networks. Even for relatively frequent events such as a one in 10 years flood, travel journeys can be significantly delayed – particularly during the rush hour - so it is crucial to understand the impact that different flood events could have. “We found that both traditional drainage measures and blue green infrastructure led to a reduction in travel network delays. Blue green infrastructure can provide city-wide benefits, whilst more traditional engineering solutions can provide substantial, but often more localised, benefits - so both options should form part of urban flood risk management strategies.” New approach PhD student Maria Pregnolato, who led the study, added: “By modelling the existing transport network and analysing it alongside flood risk we can build a framework which allows us to see the benefit that different adaptations could have. Furthermore, by analysing traffic flows in conjunction with flood mapping, we have been able to identify the most critical junctions and stretches of road. This is a completely new approach which can help planners identify and prioritise parts of the road network where flood risk management measures will achieve the greatest return on investment. “The great advantage of this new model is that it can be applied to future scenarios and a range of potential adaptation strategies, and although we looked at the specific case study of Â鶹´«Ã½ it could also be used for other UK or European cities.” Although there are large green spaces across the Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council area, the majority of the city centre is made up of impermeable land, meaning that rainfall runs straight off during storms making the area particularly vulnerable to flash flooding. While the research team acknowledges that implementing a universal green roof strategy may not be a realistic option in the short-term, they say that blue green infrastructure provides other benefits such as improved wellbeing and greater biodiversity which should be considered by urban planners. Managing flood risk Earlier this year, Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council and its partners including Â鶹´«Ã½, the Environment Agency, Northumbrian Water, Arup and Royal HaskoningDHV became the first organisations to sign the , a formal commitment to a blue green approach to managing flood risk in the city. Additionally, a new £10m state-of-the-art , announced in the 2015 Budget as part of Â鶹´«Ã½’s key role in the , is set to open next year and will enable experimentation and testing of new ‘smart’ technologies and urban flood management features. Helping to bring about an improved understanding of critical infrastructure systems, the new facility will be part of the at – Â鶹´«Ã½’s flagship project which brings together academia, the public sector, communities, business and industry to create a global centre for sustainable innovation in the heart of the city. Share: Latest News Volunteers help turn Whitley Bay beach into maths experiment Members of the public joined mathematicians from Â鶹´«Ã½ to create what organisers believe is the largest aperiodic tiling ever attempted on Whitley Bay beach. published on: 15 June 2026 Student leader drives misogyny law change A Â鶹´«Ã½ student leader has helped change the law after creating a petition to make misogyny a hate crime, which gathered over 114,000 signatures, prompting action in Parliament. published on: 12 June 2026 Freemen of Â鶹´«Ã½ see construction of new Castle Leazes The Freemen of Â鶹´«Ã½ and other key stakeholders have become an indelible part of new student accommodation at Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Castle Leazes. published on: 12 June 2026 Facts and figures
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