UTILIZING GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN CITY OF JEDDAHS URBAN ENVIRONMENTS FOR STORM WATER MANAGEMENT

Jeddah, Saudi Arabias largest coastal city, is positioned between two prominent natural features: the mountain range on its eastern side and the Red Sea on its west. The city faces many challenges central to which is storm water drainage. The natural drainage of the city through its pre-existing wadis, bringing down the rain water from the steep mountain ranges through the low inclining coastal plane and into the sea, has been interrupted in the last few decades by massive road infrastructural projects cutting through the city and interrupting the natural flow. The outcome of these interventions has been excessive flooding calamities, of which the ones in 2009 and2011 were the most extreme, causing severe damage to infrastructure, property and lives. Urban flooding is a serious and growing development challenge, this large and evolving challenge means that far more needs to be done by policy makers to better understand and more effectively manage existing and future risks. Green infrastructure (GI), or the nature-based solutions, encourages urban livability by decreases storm water quantity, and improves surface water quality, and provide a multitude of other environmental, economic, and social benefits. This paper is an approach to help urban planners, landscape architects, engineers, and local decision-makers in selecting and locating suitable an effectiveness of green infrastructure to manage storm water and shed light on connectivity of the existing urban water system. This paper explores the potential use of green infrastructure in City of Jeddahs urban environments as a case study , for storm water management and, to create green corridors across the city. As opposed to engineered solutions which address singular problematic, green infrastructures could supply many benefits to the city and the region. Therefore, these natural water channels (wadis) would support the development of green parks within the city, enhance social and recreational activities as well as supply ecological services ranging from carbon dioxide (co2) reduction, soil stabilization, air filtration and aquifer recharge.