Martijn Kuller

• BSc MSc PhD
• Assistant Professor at Utrecht University

Green spaces and nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly considered by land-use planning policies to respond to the multiple challenges related to sustainable development. The multiple benefits brought by NBS make the use of multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) essential to optimally balance their use. MCDA offers a catalog of methods allow...

The performance of blue-green infrastructure (BGI) has been well documented in temperate and subtropical climates, but evidence supporting its application in cold climates, especially during snowmelt, is still scarce. To address this gap, the present study proposes a modeling method for simulating the performance of bioretention cells during snowme...

Public decisions are typically related to large investments leaving long legacies. We should therefore strive for wide societal agreement regarding such decisions, which meet the diversity of preferences between stakeholders and over time. But if, how and why do stakeholder preferences change over time? In decision analysis, these questions receive...

Designing a flood early warning system for West Africa, a region with significant climatic and cultural diversity, is challenging. Stakeholders agree on prioritising a system that delivers accurate, clear, timely and accessible information.

Nature Based Solutions (NBS) are increasingly used for improving water quality, reducing urban flooding and providing ecological and amenity benefits. Although predominantly developed and implemented in industrialised countries, NBS are gaining traction in the Global South. Strategic planning is required to deliver the anticipated benefits and ensu...

Climate change is projected to increase flood risks in western Africa. In the FANFAR project, a pre-operational flood early warning system (FEWS) for western Africa was co-designed in workshops with 50–60 stakeholders from 17 countries, adopting multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). We aimed at (i) designing a FEWS with western African stakehold...

Planning for future urban development and water infrastructure is uncertain due to changing human activities and climate. To quantify these changes, we need adaptable and fast models that can reliably explore scenarios without requiring extensive data and inputs. While such models have been recently considered for urban development, they are lackin...

Strategic placement of water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) is essential in optimising its performance and maximising co-benefits. However, little is known about the current placement and interconnectedness between WSUD assets and the performance of current planning strategies. We evaluated the placement of existing WSUDs in a highly urbanised catch...

Surface water flooding poses significant threats to communities and environments. This threat has historically been managed through sewers and combined sewer overflows; however, it is now well recognised that, alone, these legacy systems are insufficient to manage the growing pressures from climate change, population growth and urbanisation. This r...

Climate change is projected to increase flood risks in West Africa. The EU Horizon 2020 project FANFAR co-designed a pre-operational flood forecasting and alert system for West Africa in four workshops with 50–60 stakeholders from 17 countries, adopting a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) process. Firstly, we aimed to find a robust configurat...

As climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of floods around the globe, adaptation is increasingly vital. Besides structural measures to mitigate flood risk, non-structural measures are known to be highly effective and low-cost. Such non-structural measures include Flood Early Warning Systems (FEWS). Effective warning creation and...

FANFAR enhances the capacity of West African institutions to forecast, alert for and manage floods. The overall objective of FANFAR is to reinforce the cooperation between West African and European hydrological modellers, field observers, data managers, operative forecast analysts, emergency managers, developers of information and communication tec...

Current Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) models are either purely technical or overly simplified, lacking consideration of urban planning and stakeholder preferences to adequately support stakeholders. We developed the Urban Biophysical Environments and Technologies Simulator (UrbanBEATS), which integrates stormwater management with urban planni...

The FANFAR project (reinForced cooperAtion to provide operatioNal Flood forecasting and Alerts in West AfRica), funded by the European Commission (2018–2020), aims to foster reinforced cooperation between key West African and European organisations. The project focuses on developing a system according to West African user needs and priorities, iden...

Distributed green stormwater management infrastructure is increasingly applied worldwide to counter the negative impacts of urbanisation and climate change, while providing a range of benefits related to ecosystem services. They are known as Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) in Australia, Nature Based Solutions (NBS) in Europe, Low Impact Develop...

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is commonly employed to restore urban water systems back to pre-developed conditions and can provide multiple benefits. However, WSUD planning is a challenging task that involves multidisciplinary effort to deal with highly complex and uncertain futures. Hence, an integrated approach is required to address this t...

The multiple benefits of adopting distributed, green stormwater technologies in the local environment are increasingly recognised, particularly in relation to water quality, flood mitigation, amenity and aesthetics. To advance the integration of these systems into everyday decision-making practices, Planning Support Systems (PSS) are considered vit...

Distributed and green urban drainage infrastructure known as Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is increasingly being implemented in cities globally to combat climate change and urbanisation effects. Rigorous consideration of the urban context in terms of biophysical, socioeconomic and urban form related factors is crucial for optimal design outco...

Spatial planning for green stormwater treatment technologies, known as Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), is a ‘wicked’ problem which can greatly benefit from the application of Planning Support Systems (PSS). Our review of currently existing WSUD-PSS shows that WSUD is approached from three perspectives: hydrological, urban planning and water go...

Despite the potential of Planning Support Systems to enhance urban planning of green urban water systems, their uptake is limited. This study seeks empirical, qualitative evidence for the causes and potential solutions of low uptake, using in-depth interviews with 24 planning practitioners. Some of the most important findings are that (1) the bigge...

Despite the potential of Planning Support Systems to enhance urban planning of green urban water systems, their uptake is limited. This study seeks empirical, qualitative evidence for the causes and potential solutions of low uptake, using in-depth interviews with 24 planning practitioners. Some of the most important findings are that (1) the bigge...

Rapid urbanisation, population growth and the effects of climate change drive the need for sustainable urban water management (SUWM) in Asian cities. The complexity of this challenge calls for the integration of knowledge from different disciplines and collaborative approaches. This paper identifies key issues and sets the stage for interdisciplina...

Rapid urbanisation and the effects of climate change drive the need for sustainable urban water management (SUWM) in Asian cities. The complexity of this challenge calls for the integration of knowledge from different disciplines and collaborative approaches. This paper identifies key issues and sets the stage for interdisciplinary research on SUWM...

Planning of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) technologies is traditionally undertaken with consideration of a limited number of predominantly biophysical factors. However, both suitability of a location and the ‘need’ for WSUD should ideally depend on large set of diverse and spatially explicit variables, including socio-demographic, planning an...

Research on rainwater harvesting mainly focuses on a building scale. Scant information is available about its performance on a large scale. This study aims to determine the potential for, and economic viability of meeting non-potable water demand by rainwater harvesting for a large scale case (21.5 km2): Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. A dynamic model...

Research on rainwater harvesting mainly focuses on a building scale. Scant information is available about its performance at large scale. This study aims to determine the potential for, and economic viability of meeting non-potable water demand by rainwater harvesting for a large scale case (21.5 km2): Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. A dynamic model wa...

Research on rainwater harvesting mainly focuses on a building scale. Scant information is available about its performance at large scale. This study aims to determine the potential for, and economic viability of meeting non-potable water demand by rainwater harvesting for a large scale case (21.5 km2): Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. A dynamic model wa...

Voor een effectieve bescherming van beschikbare (zoet)waterbronnen is het opvangen en benutten van regenwater op regionale schaal noodzakelijk, evenals het vergroten van de regionale zelfvoorzienendheid. Deze studie op het terrein van luchthaven Schiphol laat zien dat regenwateropvang van verschillende oppervlakten haalbaar is, maar dat voor volled...

Voor een effectieve bescherming van beschikbare (zoet)waterbronnen is het opvangen en benutten van regenwater op regionale schaal noodzakelijk, evenals het vergroten van de regionale zelfvoorzienendheid. Deze studie op het terrein van luchthaven Schiphol laat zien dat regenwateropvang van verschillende oppervlakten haalbaar is, maar dat voor volled...