Rapid urbanization and climate change have intensified the demand for innovative, yet nature-based solutions to challenges facing urban stormwater management. Traditionally designed urban drainage systems (UDS), while moderately effective in managing runoff, struggle to adapt to changing conditions and design requirements. They are inherently limited, as oversizing is neither feasible nor sustainable in the long term. Green infrastructure (GI) and nature-based solutions (NBS), such as green and blue-green roofs, offer sustainable approaches by enhancing retention and detention capacities within UDS. However, their passive nature impedes superior performance under varying rainfall patterns and intensities. Real-time control (RTC) enhances urban stormwater management by enabling GI and NBS to respond dynamically to changing hydrological conditions, such as temporarily storing runoff on green roofs before peak flows, and by supporting efficient, adaptive control strategies. This review explores the existing examples of RTC integration with GI and NBS, specifically focusing on green and blue-green roofs, and identifies critical gaps in the literature. These include limited research on RTC integration with GI and NBS, and a lack of comparative numerical modeling studies for green roof systems, a fundamental step for RTC implementation. The paper outlines identified research directions for future to help address these gaps, highlighting the potential of RTC-enhanced GI and NBS in increasing urban water resilience and supporting the development of smarter cities. • Provides an overview of various stormwater management strategies. • Reviews real-time control approaches and classifies them from various perspectives. • Reviews real-time control application to nature-based solutions in stormwater systems. • Identifies gaps in applying real-time control to green and blue-green roof systems. • Proposes future research directions to advance real-time control implementation.
Hamidiaala et al. (2026) studied this question.