Function-based and multi-scale approach to green roof guidelines for urban sustainability transitions: The case of Bogota

Abstract

A growing number of local green roof niches across the globe are transitioning into the mainstream domain. Guidelines are key to this process, as they define technological environments and set the criteria for best practices in a given socio-technical setting. Although the German Forschungsgesellschaft Landschaftsentwicklung Landschaftsbau (FLL) cornerstone guidelines provided solid empirical ground and established technical parameters for the successful application of green roofs across continents, investigations about alternative green roof guidelines for emerging markets remain very scarce. The paper presents the inclusive approach followed by the Bogota Green Roof Guidelines, which were the result of a multi-actor participatory process that examined how to embrace a wide range of emerging green roof technologies and local adaptations while promoting quality of application at different scales, regardless of the system used, and despite the absence of local robust empirical data on performance parameters. As a result, Bogota's Green Roof Guidelines incorporated ad hoc elements: (1) new definitions and taxonomy, (2) function-based contents, (3) multi-scale approach, and (4) performance scoping. These aspects are discussed to provide novel insights for the advancement of green infrastructure policies in diverse institutional settings aiming to promote quality and simultaneously support markets that make room for a wide variety of green infrastructure practices.