From storms to solutions: building urban resilience through digital, green & grey infrastructure

On July 22, Smart Water Magazine and Bentley Systems hosted the second session of the Smart Water Cities Webinar Series: Advancing Resilient Urban Infrastructure with Digital Stormwater and Flood Solutions. The discussion gathered three voices from technology, academia, and municipal action: Cecilia Correia, Global Water Industry Solutions Strategist at Bentley Systems; Professor Ben Hodges, Forsman Centennial Professor in Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin; and Pedro Teixeira, Environmental Engineer and PhD researcher at the Lisbon Municipality. The session was moderated by Cristina Novo, Technical Editor at Smart Water Magazine.

At a time when unpredictable weather patterns, urban growth, and rising climate impacts are putting cities under mounting pressure, the panel explored how municipalities can combine green and grey infrastructure with digital innovation to reduce flood risks, foster sustainability, and build more liveable cities.

Rethinking resilience beyond climate

The discussion began with a broad question: What makes a city truly resilient today? Professor Ben Hodges stressed that resilience cannot mean eliminating risk entirely, but rather designing systems that acknowledge their limits: “We’re always going to lose power. But resilience is how do you recover from losing power? And in the same way with stormwater, when the system is overwhelmed, where does that water go and how do we minimize the damage?” He illustrated with U.S. examples where designated overflow basins were later developed into housing, eliminating the very safety margin they were intended to provide. For Ben Hodges, the key is public awareness: citizens and managers must recognize that stormwater systems cannot prevent every event, but can be designed to recover quickly.

“We cannot build stormwater systems to handle every event. The question is: what happens beyond the limits, and how do we recover?” – Professor Ben Hodges

From the perspective of Lisbon, Pedro Teixeira emphasized that resilience must be holistic, extending beyond climate to include social and economic dimensions: “Urban resilience goes beyond preparing for extreme weather events. At its core, it’s the city’s ability to adapt and respond in an integrated way to climate, social, economic, and infrastructural challenges — always ensuring a high quality of life for residents.” Pedro Teixeira cited Lisbon’s ongoing work: expanding green spaces and biodiversity corridors, improving rainwater management, and promoting sustainable mobility.

Cecilia Correia echoed this broader vision, introducing her preferred term, water-wise cities. For her, resilience means learning from past mistakes and treating the city as an interconnected ecosystem: “Resilience begins with understanding the city is more than a collection of buildings and infrastructure — it’s a living ecosystem of ecosystems.”

Municipal leadership and political courage

Municipalities are often on the front line of climate impacts. Pedro Teixeira underscored Lisbon’s role in leading long-term adaptation, highlighting its Master Drainage Plan — a massive engineering project 20 years in the making. He stressed that launching it required political courage, since such investments take decades to deliver results.  Lisbon is also rethinking water supply by replacing drinking water with reclaimed water for irrigation of green areas. This, Pedro Teixeira explained, is both a climate adaptation strategy and a cost-saving measure.

In contrast, Ben Hodges described the fragmentation challenge in U.S. cities, where stormwater systems are managed locally without the regional coordination found in energy or transport. “That fragmentation,” he argued, “makes it very difficult to create large-scale, cost-effective programs.”

Cecilia Correia responded by reframing the issue as one of interoperability. She argued that digital tools can break down silos by offering shared platforms where municipalities, academia, and technology providers collaborate.

Stormwater: the hidden backbone

All three panelists agreed that stormwater management is often invisible — until it fails. Ben Hodges noted that unlike electricity or drinking water, stormwater is not noticed in daily life, leading to chronic underinvestment. Yet when floods occur, “everything shuts down.”

“Resilience begins with understanding the city is more than a collection of buildings and infrastructure — it’s a living ecosystem of ecosystems” – Cecilia Correia

Pedro Teixeira added that drainage has historically received less public and political attention than transport or housing, a gap that must be closed.

Cecilia Correia struck a more optimistic note: “When I started working, a good engineer was the one who hid every drop of water. Today that’s not what we see. Stormwater is not only a technical necessity, it’s a strategic opportunity to build cities that are safer, greener, and better prepared for the future.”

She pointed to global trends such as sponge city initiatives in Europe and Asia, where infiltration, green corridors, and blue infrastructure are integrated into urban design.

Integration: green, grey, and digital

Turning to integration, Pedro Teixeira emphasized the value of digital twins and real-time monitoring to support decision-making. Lisbon is investing in vulnerability maps and sensors to better predict risks and plan interventions.

Ben Hodges, however, warned of a persistent implementation gap: much of the knowledge produced in academia does not reach practice. Bridging this divide, he suggested, requires rethinking incentives so research translates into usable tools.

Cecilia Correia linked this to the rise of real-time data, arguing that cities can now move from reactive to proactive stormwater management: “These systems will help cities shift from reactive to proactive management. With better prediction and preparation, resilience improves.”

Equity and community engagement

Equity was another recurring theme. Historically, poorer neighbourhoods have borne the brunt of flooding. Ben Hodges insisted this inequity must not continue: resilient cities must ensure fair protection for all communities.

Pedro Teixeira highlighted Lisbon’s citizen engagement programs, from participatory budgeting to neighbourhood workshops, as critical for ensuring solutions are accepted and effective: “Every time we have a big project, we organize exhibitions and workshops. We really want to listen to people, because they have to be part of the solution. Otherwise, it may not work.”

Ben Hodges even proposed gamified approaches to engage citizens in understanding trade-offs across infrastructure systems, from stormwater to energy and transport.

Looking ahead

The session closed with a poll asking what cities should start doing tomorrow. The top responses were using advanced digital tools and investing in nature-based infrastructure — a pairing that the panel agreed reflects the future of resilient cities.

In their final remarks, the speakers stressed urgency and foresight. Pedro Teixeira summarized Lisbon’s philosophy: “Building a resilient city for the near future means acting boldly now — combining infrastructure, innovation, and community.”

Cecilia Correia concluded by emphasizing the need for long-term vision: “If we need something for tomorrow, we need to start doing it today. Future-proofing is about building adaptive capacity into every layer of the city — infrastructure, governance, economy, and community.”

This second session of the Smart Water Cities Webinar Series underscored that resilience depends on many factors working together. Digital stormwater and flood solutions play a key role, but their effectiveness is greatest when combined with municipal leadership, political courage, and community participation. As storms intensify and cities grow more complex, resilience will come from integrating technology with people and institutions — connecting infrastructure, ecosystems, and society into a coherent whole.