journal article·2025-06-27Open access

A Coupled Coordination and Network-Based Framework for Optimizing Green Stormwater Infrastructure Deployment: A Case Study in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area

Jiayu Zhao, Yichun Chen, Rana Muhammad Adnan Ikram, Haoyu Xu, Soon Keat Tan, Mo Wang

Applied Sciences· Volume 15· Issue 13

Abstract

Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI), as a nature-based solution, has gained widespread recognition for its role in mitigating urban flood risks and enhancing resilience. Equitable spatial distribution of GSI remains a pressing challenge, critical to harmonizing urban hydrological systems and maintaining ecological balance. However, the complexity of matching GSI supply with urban demand has limited comprehensive spatial assessments. This study introduces a quantitative framework to identify priority zones for GSI deployment and to evaluate supply–demand dynamics in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) using a coupled coordination simulation model. Clustering and proximity matrix analysis were applied to map spatial relationships across districts and to reveal underlying mismatches. Findings demonstrate significant spatial heterogeneity: over 90% of districts show imbalanced supply–demand coupling. Four spatial clusters were identified based on levels of GSI disparity. Economically advanced urban areas such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen showed high demand, while peripheral regions like Zhaoqing and Huizhou were characterized by oversupply and misaligned allocation. These results provide a systematic understanding of GSI distribution patterns, highlight priority intervention areas, and offer practical guidance for large-scale, equitable GSI planning.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Urban Stormwater Management Solutions · Land Use and Ecosystem Services · Flood Risk Assessment and Management

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China

Water Science and Environmental Research Centre, College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore

Funding

Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation, China · Guangzhou City School (Institute) Enterprise Joint Funding Project, China · Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China

References (63)

Show source-provided references
1. Substantial increase in future fluvial flood risk projected in China’s major urban agglomerations10.1038/s43247-023-01049-0 ↗
2. Assessing urban flooding risk in response to climate change and urbanization based on shared socio-economic pathways10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163470 ↗
3. A planning framework to mitigate localized urban stormwater inlet flooding using distributed Green Stormwater Infrastructure at an urban scale: Case study of Dallas, Texas10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129538 ↗
4. Evaluating real-time control of stormwater drainage network and green stormwater infrastructure for enhancing flooding resilience under future rainfall projections10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107123 ↗
5. Nakamura, S., Abanokova, K., Dang, H.-A.H., Takamatsu, S., Pei, C., and Prospere, D. (2023). Is Climate Change Slowing the Urban Escalator Out of Poverty? Evidence from Chile, Colombia, and Indonesia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 20.10.1596/1813-9450-10383 ↗
6. Low Impact Development Practices: A Review of Current Research and Recommendations for Future Directions10.1007/s11270-007-9484-z ↗
7. Interpretation and application of Sponge City guidelines in China
8. Wang, M., Chen, F., Zhang, D., Rao, Q., Li, J., and Tan, S.K. (2022). Supply–Demand Evaluation of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Based on the Model of Coupling Coordination. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 19.10.3390/ijerph192214742 ↗
9. Multifunctional bioretention basins as urban stepping stone habitats for wildflowers and pollinators10.1016/j.ufug.2023.128133 ↗
10. Field assessment of metal and base cation accumulation in green stormwater infrastructure soils10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162500 ↗
11. Regulatory requirements and voluntary interventions create contrasting distributions of green stormwater infrastructure in Baltimore, Maryland10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104607 ↗
12. Mapping supply of and demand for ecosystem services to assess environmental justice in New York City10.1002/eap.2390 ↗
13. What drives the location choice for water sensitive infrastructure in Melbourne, Australia?10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.03.018 ↗
14. Simulation and optimization framework for evaluating the robustness of low-impact development placement solutions under climate change in a small urban catchment10.1080/02626667.2023.2248137 ↗
15. Developing China’s Ecological Redline Policy using ecosystem services assessments for land use planning10.1038/s41467-018-05306-1 ↗
16. A feasibility study of uninhabited aircraft systems for rapid and cost-effective plant stress monitoring at green stormwater infrastructure facilities10.2166/hydro.2020.195 ↗
17. Understanding recreational ecosystem service supply-demand mismatch and social groups’ preferences: Implications for urban–rural planning10.1016/j.landurbplan.2023.104903 ↗
18. Kong, Q., Kong, H., Miao, S., Zhang, Q., and Shi, J. (2022). Spatial Coupling Coordination Evaluation between Population Growth, Land Use and Housing Supply of Urban Agglomeration in China. Land, 11.10.3390/land11091396 ↗
19. Exploring the historical and future spatial interaction relationship between urbanization and ecosystem services in the Yangtze River Basin, China10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.139401 ↗
20. Urban agglomeration waterlogging hazard exposure assessment based on an integrated Naive Bayes classifier and complex network analysis10.1007/s11069-023-06118-3 ↗
21. Identifying dominant factors of waterlogging events in metropolitan coastal cities: The case study of Guangzhou, China10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110951 ↗
22. Financial Market Connectedness between the U.S. and China: A New Perspective Based on Non-linear Causality Networks10.1016/j.intfin.2023.101886 ↗
23. Prioritizing urban nature-based solutions to support scaling-out strategies: A case study in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria10.1016/j.eiar.2023.107158 ↗
24. An optimization model for the impervious surface spatial layout considering differences in hydrological unit conditions for urban waterlogging prevention in urban renewal10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.111546 ↗
25. Fňukalová, E., Zýka, V., and Romportl, D. (2021). The Network of Green Infrastructure Based on Ecosystem Services Supply in Central Europe. Land, 10.10.3390/land10060592 ↗
26. Integrating green infrastructure, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions for urban sustainability: A comprehensive literature review10.1016/j.scs.2023.104843 ↗
27. Urban resilience through green infrastructure: A framework for policy analysis applied to Madrid, Spain10.1016/j.landurbplan.2023.104923 ↗
28. Review of emerging contaminants in green stormwater infrastructure: Antibiotic resistance genes, microplastics, tire wear particles, PFAS, and temperature10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167195 ↗
29. Supply-demand measurement and spatial allocation of Sponge facilities for Sponge city construction10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110141 ↗
30. Urban flooding risk assessment based on an integrated k-means cluster algorithm and improved entropy weight method in the region of Haikou, China10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.06.060 ↗
31. Flood risk assessment for Davao Oriental in the Philippines using geographic information system-based multi-criteria analysis and the maximum entropy model10.1111/jfr3.12607 ↗
32. Assessment of long and short-term flood risk using the multi-criteria analysis model with the AHP-Entropy method in Poyang Lake basin10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.102968 ↗
33. Urban flooding risk assessment based on FAHP–EWM combination weighting: A case study of Beijing10.1080/19475705.2023.2240943 ↗
34. Set pair analysis for karst waterlogging risk assessment based on AHP and entropy weight10.2166/nh.2017.265 ↗
35. Spatio-temporal evolution scenarios and the coupling analysis of ecosystem services with land use change in China10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.136 ↗
36. Evolution and coupled matching of ecosystem service supply and demand at different spatial scales in the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration, China10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.111052 ↗
37. Coupling relationship between urbanization and water-related ecosystem services in China’s Yangtze River economic Belt and its socio-ecological driving forces: A county-level perspective10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.109871 ↗
38. The Influence of Data Classification Methods on Predictive Accuracy of Kernel Density Estimation Hotspot Maps
39. Identifying key areas of imbalanced supply and demand of ecosystem services at the urban agglomeration scale: A case study of the Fujian Delta in China10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148173 ↗
40. How to achieve the common developments of green finance and clean energy in China? Evidence from coupling coordination evaluation10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.111011 ↗
41. The Emergence of New Industries at the Regional Level in Spain: A Proximity Approach Based on Product Relatedness10.1111/j.1944-8287.2012.01170.x ↗
42. The Product Space Conditions the Development of Nations10.1126/science.1144581 ↗
43. Assessing the groundwater loss risk in Beijing based on ecosystem service supply and demand and the influencing factors10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162255 ↗
44. Community detection in networks: A user guide10.1016/j.physrep.2016.09.002 ↗
45. Adapting drainage networks to the urban development: An assessment of different integrated approach alternatives for a sustainable flood risk mitigation in Northern Italy10.1016/j.scs.2023.104856 ↗
46. Analyzing the impacts of topographic factors and land cover characteristics on waterlogging events in urban functional zones10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166669 ↗
47. Urban-focused weather and climate services in Hong Kong10.1186/s40562-018-0119-6 ↗
48. Zhang, C., Xu, T., Wang, T., and Zhao, Y. (2023). Spatial-temporal evolution of influencing mechanism of urban flooding in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao greater bay area, China. Front. Earth Sci., 10.10.3389/feart.2022.1113997 ↗
49. Urban flood risk and green infrastructure: Who is exposed to risk and who benefits from investment? A case study of three U.S. Cities10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104417 ↗
50. Optimization of integrating life cycle cost and systematic resilience for grey-green stormwater infrastructure10.1016/j.scs.2022.104379 ↗
51. Planning for green infrastructure and mapping synergies and trade-offs: A case study in the Yanshuei River Basin, Taiwan10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127325 ↗
52. Inclusion of ecosystem services in the management of municipal natural open space systems10.1002/pan3.10572 ↗
53. Analysis of the relationship between supply–demand matching of selected ecosystem services and urban spatial governance: A case study of Suzhou, China10.1007/s11356-023-27088-w ↗
54. Managing the supply-demand mismatches and potential flows of ecosystem services from the perspective of regional integration: A case study of Hangzhou, China10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165918 ↗
55. Cause-related injustice, process-related injustice, effect-related injustice and regional heat action planning priorities: An empirical study in Yangtze River Delta and Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomerations10.1016/j.landurbplan.2023.104800 ↗
56. Jeon, Y., and Jung, S. (2024). Spatial Equity of Urban Park Distribution: Examining the Floating Population within Urban Park Catchment Areas in the Context of the 15-Minute City. Land, 13.10.3390/land13010024 ↗
57. An XGBoost-SHAP approach to quantifying morphological impact on urban flooding susceptibility10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.111137 ↗
58. Connecting groups and behaviours: A network analysis of identity-infused behaviours10.1111/bjso.12674 ↗
59. Citation counts prediction of statistical publications based on multi-layer academic networks via neural network model10.1016/j.eswa.2023.121634 ↗
60. Information and Diagnosis Networks—Tools to improve diagnosis and treatment for patients with rare genetic diseases10.1590/1678-4685-gmb-2018-0214 ↗
61. Detection of Urban Flood Inundation from Traffic Images Using Deep Learning Methods10.1007/s11269-023-03669-9 ↗
62. Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) for Stormwater Management in the City of Los Angeles: Avalon Green Alleys Network10.1007/s40710-019-00364-z ↗
63. Assessing the spatial pattern of supply-demand mismatches in ecosystem flood regulation service: A case study in Xiamen10.1016/j.apgeog.2023.103113 ↗