REVIEW article
Front. Sustain. Cities
Sec. Urban Greening
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsc.2025.1601091
This article is part of the Research TopicBlue-Green Infrastructure: Key to Sustainable Urban DevelopmentView all 4 articles
Integrating Life Cycle Assessment into Green Infrastructure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Urban Sustainability Strategies
Provisionally accepted
- Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece
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Green infrastructure (GI) is increasingly vital for cities addressing environmental challenges, climate change, and sustainability through nature-based solutions. However, the inconsistent use of life cycle assessment (LCA) methods—including variations in impact categories, data collection methods, system boundaries, and functional units—hinders effective policymaking and comparison among projects. This study conducted a systematic review and semi-quantitative meta-analysis, following PRISMA guidelines. Out of 334 publications (2014–2024) identified from Web of Science, Science Direct, and Google Scholar, 40 studies met the inclusion criteria. Analysis included critical sustainability indicators: carbon emissions, water footprint, energy use, land-use changes, and air pollution. Traditional LCA was most commonly applied, yet integration with economic (life cycle costing, LCC) and social dimensions (social LCA, S-LCA) remained limited. Meta-analysis indicated a slight positive correlation between standard LCA and water footprint (0.27) but a negative correlation with energy consumption (−0.18), suggesting trade-offs between water management and energy efficiency. Economic assessments (LCC) were moderately linked to land-use changes (0.15), reflecting economic considerations in GI projects. Social assessments (S-LCA) correlated positively with air pollution (0.20), highlighting potential conflicts between social and environmental objectives. Although GI significantly contributes to urban sustainability, the lack of standardized LCA methods limits comparative analyses and practical policy development. Standardizing methodologies, unifying impact assessments, integrating environmental, economic, and social evaluations, and developing financial incentives and advanced technological tools like artificial intelligence are critical steps forward. Future research should prioritize refining LCA accuracy, comprehensive lifecycle cost-benefit integration, and multi-dimensional sustainability analyses to better inform urban resilience policies.
Keywords: green infrastructure1, Life Cycle Assessment2, Life Cycle Costing3, Social Life Cycle Assessment4, Urban Sustainability5, Climate Resilience6, Policy Standardization7, Ecosystem Services Evaluation8
Received: 27 Mar 2025; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bani Khalifi, AVGOUSTAKI and BARTZANAS. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: DAFNI DESPOINA AVGOUSTAKI, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece
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