2.1.3. Economic benefits
The economic benefits of blue-green spaces are introduced in two
aspects. Firstly, a blue-green space can provide a good landscape for a
city, increase the attractiveness of the city, promote the development
of tourism, and increase the value of real estate in the city. It
promotes the productivity of citizens and the growth of urban economy.
The beautiful landscape of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is one
of the factors that attract a lot of foreign investment, enhance the
property value and increase the financial return of land developers by
5% to 15% depending on the type of a project (Heidt and Neef, 2002).
Secondly, green buildings or infrastructure in blue-green spaces, mainly
including GI, provides better facilities and entertainment opportunities
for human beings in addition to habitats (Ashley, 2017).With vegetation
features on the ground, such as swamps, cisterns and rain gardens, based
on natural drainage processes SuDS/GI facilities fully integrate the
ecological benefits of water bodies and green spaces, promote ecosystem
services and improve the efficiency of urban drainage systems and the
economic development (van den Berg et al. , 2015). In addition,
the blue-green space has the benefit of UHI reduction and can reduce
energy consumption. A Chicago study showed that increasing tree coverage
by 10% in a city could reduce total energy required for heating and
cooling by 5% to 10% (Sorensen et al. , 1997). Therefore, the
development of urban blue-green spaces may be a better solution than
cool materials (Carvalho et al. , 2017).