The working group ‘Water-sensitive Infrastructure Planning’ (WASP) develops spatio-economic planning methods for water-sensitive infrastructure. We work at different scales from the settlement and neighborhood level to the regional, national and international level. With the aim to develop transferrable tools and methods, the data we utilize are also cross-scale from global data sets to detailed, local data sources.
Aiming to provide climate-sensitive infrastructure planning we develop and utilize tools that provide pre-planning along decentralization and technological gradients. Along those gradients we plan water infrastructure from blue-green/ NBS to conventional or grey technologies. Spatially this includes decentral solutions close to the source or in clusters as well as centralized solutions and compare these solutions using cost estimations. The different gradients are formulated as scenarios which in turn enables optimization and scenario-based modeling.
Our planning approaches are complemented by measures to shape relevant framework conditions through strategic alliances with key institutions in a knowledge-based co-design process. In this way, we develop methods for the creation of (water) master plans for sustainable infrastructure-based water management of urban and rural systems.