Urban Water Quality and Nature-based Solutions: Advancing Sustainable Urban Environments

Urban water quality is becoming a central concern as cities grow, climate risks intensify, and pollution pressures mount. Rapid urbanization typically leads to the proliferation of impervious surfaces, overwhelmed drainage systems, and increased pollutant loads from both domestic and industrial sources. These changes significantly undermine the integrity of urban aquatic ecosystems, leading to the spread of contaminants, including newly recognized emerging pollutants. Moreover, recent evidence demonstrates that urban flooding events, exacerbated by climate change, not only mobilize a vast array of pollutants but also magnify health hazards, increasing the incidence of waterborne and vector-borne diseases and putting additional strain on public health systems. While conventional infrastructure has struggled to keep pace, innovative approaches are being sought, highlighting the essential role of Nature-based Solutions (NbS).Nature-based Solutions, such as constructed wetlands, green roofs, permeable pavements, and urban green spaces, offer multifaceted benefits for managing and improving water quality in urban environments. They provide sustainable and often more cost-effective alternatives or complements to traditional engineered infrastructure by enhancing natural hydrological and ecological processes. Despite substantial progress in demonstrating the local effectiveness of NbS, crucial knowledge gaps remain regarding their efficacy across different urban contexts, the mechanisms governing pollutant removal, and the quantifiable socio-economic and health co-benefits they deliver under evolving climate conditions. In addition, optimal integration of NbS into urban policy, infrastructure planning, and maintenance regimes continues to be an active area of investigation.This Research Topic aims to advance our understanding of how Nature-based Solutions can be leveraged to safeguard and restore urban water quality, bolster ecosystem services, and enhance urban resilience to climatic extremes. It seeks interdisciplinary insights by bringing together research on pollution pathways and sources, advanced monitoring and modeling techniques, case studies, integration of NbS in policy and planning, and assessments of socio-economic, ecological, and public health outcomes.To gather further insights in the implementation, effectiveness, and trade-offs of Nature-based Solutions in urban water management, we welcome contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Urban groundwater and surface water contamination sources and pathways• Assessment and modeling of the impacts of climate risks (e.g., floods, droughts) on pollutant mobilization• Design, monitoring, and evaluation of Nature-based Solutions for urban water quality management• Policy frameworks, governance, and barriers to mainstreaming NbS• Socio-economic, health, and ecological co-benefits and trade-offs of NbS (including heat mitigation, biodiversity enhancement, and sustainable urban resilience)• Maintenance strategies, monitoring, and long-term performance of NbS under climate uncertainty• Integration of NbS with traditional engineered infrastructure in urban settings Topic editors: Bertil Nlend, Mahesh Jampani, Irem Daloglu Cetinkaya, Maria Magdalena Warter Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/76889/urban-water-quality-and-nature-based-solutions-advancing-sustainable-urban-environments