engleski

Green roofs and sustainability of urbanisation

As the 21st century is heading towards the future heavily reliant on technology, smart systems and cities turning into mega-urbanised structures, the environmental issues and sustainable development remain firmly on the top of our evolutional concerns as a civilisation. Green infrastructure has become an inevitable element of urbanisation as it provides a valuable mitigation tool for the adverse impacts of climate change and contributes positively to the quality of urban areas. The theoretical framework of this paper shall focus on literature findings regarding the benefits of green roofs as an element of green infrastructure in the context of the looping principles of the circular economy. The empirical part of the study aimed to conduct scientific research amongst the civil engineering students in Croatia, as a part of the Millennial generation that will be tomorrow's decision-makers. Findings suggest that Millennials from the tested sample in Croatia are aware of the environmental issues as well as the green roof concept, willing to consider including green roofs in their future urban environment whilst believing that they can make a personal, positive contribution on a local level in the reduction of climate risks. However, while praising very highly the presence of green infrastructure in the immediate living environment, they are almost indifferent to its absence and ranked this criterion very low when making employment decisions. Since Millennials are also rightfully concerned with the cost of green roofs design, construction and maintenance, authors find financial aspects of green infrastructure and green roofs in particular as an important direction of future research.

green roofs, green infrastructure, Millennials, sustainable development, urbanisation, circular economy

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