scholarly journals Monitoring and Evaluating Nature-Based Solutions Implementation in Urban Areas by Means of Earth Observation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1503
Author(s):  
Nektarios Chrysoulakis ◽  
Giorgos Somarakis ◽  
Stavros Stagakis ◽  
Zina Mitraka ◽  
Man-Sing Wong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Earth Observation ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Socioeconomic Impacts ◽  
Urban Energy ◽  
Urban Planning And Development ◽  
Carbon Balances

Climate change influences the vulnerability of urban populations worldwide. To improve their adaptive capacity, the implementation of nature-based solutions (NBS) in urban areas has been identified as an appropriate action, giving urban planning and development an important role towards climate change adaptation/mitigation and risk management and resilience. However, the importance of extensively applying NBS is still underestimated, especially regarding its potential to induce significantly positive environmental and socioeconomic impacts across cities. Concerning environmental impacts, monitoring and evaluation is an important step of NBS management, where earth observation (EO) can contribute. EO is known for providing valuable disaggregated data to assess the modifications caused by NBS implementation in terms of land cover, whereas the potential of EO to uncover the role of NBS in urban metabolism modifications (e.g., energy, water, and carbon fluxes and balances) still remains underexplored. This study reviews the EO potential in the monitoring and evaluation of NBS implementation in cities, indicating that satellite observations combined with data from complementary sources may provide an evidence-based approach in terms of NBS adaptive management. EO-based tools can be applied to assess NBS’ impacts on urban energy, water, and carbon balances, further improving our understanding of urban systems dynamics and supporting sustainable urbanization.

Urban regeneration as a perpetual planning process: Understanding the role of stakeholders in property-led regeneration projects in Greek cities

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athena Yiannakou
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Planning System ◽  
Process Understanding ◽  
Strongly Connected ◽  
Urban Planning And Development ◽  
Multi Stakeholder

Urban regeneration has been at the forefront of urban planning and development in European cities for many decades and is strongly connected to property-led development, with the involvement of various stakeholders. In Greece, urban regeneration, as a public policy response to large-scale abandonment and dereliction of urban land, has not been successful so far. The Greek planning system and its provisions for renewal of degraded urban areas have for long been regarded as an obstacle to the implementation of urban regeneration projects. The reform of the planning system in the 2010s introduced some critical changes, with an emphasis on larger-scale development, but with no particular focus on urban regeneration. Using two case studies of regeneration projects in the city of Thessaloniki, this paper attempts to provide an insight into the role of the various stakeholders in such projects. It is argued that in these projects, each stakeholder, irrespective of its character, acts as distinct interest group which develops only binary relations with other stakeholders. Thus, the regeneration project becomes a platform upon which each stakeholder aims to secure its power, instead of a coordinated multi-stakeholder process with a framework for sharing the costs and benefits of its implementation.

Exploring the feasibility of future housing development within existing cities

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 336-351
Author(s):  
Bart Rijken ◽  
Edwin Buitelaar ◽  
Lianne van Duinen
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
House Prices ◽  
Housing Demand ◽  
Housing Development ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Additional Contribution ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Science Policy Interface ◽  
Evidence Based Decision Making

In cities around the world, housing demand is increasing rapidly. Since housing supply is inelastic, house prices are rising as well, which causes affordability problems. Although there is consensus about the need to raise production, there is debate about its location: within the existing city, on underused or derelict buildings and sites, or on greenfield land outside existing city boundaries? The question we address is how researchers on the science–policy interface can support these debates and facilitate evidence-based decision-making. We address two major problems while doing this: (1) the complexity of the object at hand, that is, of the development of urban systems and (2) the politicised nature of science-for-policy. The contribution of this paper is that it links complexity theory to the literature about science-for-policy, two usually unconnected literatures. An additional contribution is that it shows how the role of the scientist as ‘honest broker’, as developed by Roger Pielke, can be operationalised and applied to existing policy debates. We do that for the Dutch debate about housing development in existing urban areas.

scholarly journals Experiencing and Responding to Everyday Weather in Darwin, Australia: The Important Role of Tolerance

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliza de Vet
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Costs ◽  
Outdoor Activities ◽  
Weather And Climate ◽  
The Everyday

Abstract Climates are changing, yet the everyday implications for societies and cultures are unclear. Until recently, weather and climate (change) have been largely represented quantitatively and discussed at broad spatial and social scales. Qualitative weather research is helping to reconnect weather with its diverse local meanings and to explain how climate change may alter future representational and behavioral understands of weather (herein called “weather-relations”) in the hope of furthering climate change action. Responding to the need for greater research into weather-relations, particularly in industrialized urban areas, this paper examines the role of weather in everyday life in tropical Darwin, Australia. It identifies a willingness among participants to stay “weather-connected” despite challenging weather conditions and access to air conditioning. This willingness is driven by desires to remain acclimatized in order to enhance positive weather sensations, retain outdoor lifestyles, and reduce financial and environmental costs associated with resource-intensive technologies. In delving into weather adjustment strategies that facilitate weather-connectedness along with possible climate change implications, greater potential for weather-relations research is recognized. By drawing attention to weather experiences and understandings alongside resource efficient weather responses, this paper uncovered a substantial capacity among participants to respond sustainably to environmental change. These capacities are the outcome of adjustment practices relating to food, clothing, laundering, physical and outdoor activities, and domestic comfort and a previously unrecognized coping strategy—expressions of tolerance. Findings suggest that by recognizing and fostering existing adjustment capabilities of societies and cultures and the local values that afford their reproduction, communities would be better placed to adapt to future climate change.

scholarly journals THE CRITICAL ROLE OF MARKETS IN CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 1950003 ◽  
Author(s):  
SARAH E. ANDERSON ◽  
TERRY L. ANDERSON ◽  
ALICE C. HILL ◽  
MATTHEW E. KAHN ◽  
HOWARD KUNREUTHER ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Land Markets ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
Market Signals ◽  
Irrigation Technologies

Markets, especially land markets, can facilitate climate change adaptation through price signals. A review of research reveals that urban, coastal, and agricultural land markets provide effective signals of the emerging costs of climate change. These signals encourage adjustments by both private owners and policy officials in taking preemptive action to reduce costs. In agriculture, they promote consideration of new cropping and tillage practices, seed types, timing, and location of production. They also stimulate use of new irrigation technologies. In urban areas, they motivate new housing construction, elevation, and location away from harm. They channel more efficient use of water and its application to parks and other green areas to make urban settings more desirable with higher temperatures. Related water markets play a similar role in adjusting water use and reallocation. To be effective, however, markets must reflect multiple traders and prices must be free to adjust. Where these conditions are not met, market signals will be inhibited and market-driven adaptation will be reduced. Because public policy is driven by constituent demands, it may not be a remedy. The evidence of the National Flood Insurance Program and federal wildfire response illustrates how politically difficult it may be to adjust programs to be more adaptive.

scholarly journals Climate change and built environment - the role of urban greenery as a mitigation strategy in Greek urban areas

2021 ◽  
Vol 899 (1) ◽  
pp. 012018
Author(s):  
D Apostolopoulou ◽  
S Tsoka
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Mitigation Strategy ◽  
Urban Greenery

Abstract Extreme thermal conditions and heat waves, as a result of global warming, have increased in recent years. Especially in the Mediterranean area, cities face higher temperatures during summer months which severely affect thermal comfort and citizens’ well-being. In this context, this study aims to evaluate the role of urban greenery as a mitigation strategy and focuses on its effect towards the improvement of the urban microclimate and thermal comfort under extreme summer conditions. To this aim, a typical square, located in Athens, Greece, has been chosen as a case study. The microclimatic conditions are evaluated for its present state and after an increase of 20% of soil surface and 30% of trees, while both current (i.e., 2020) and future summer climatic conditions (for the year 2060) are examined. It was also proposed that all the soil surfaces would be covered in grass. The potential air temperature, mean radiant temperature and surface temperature are analysed by simulation means, using the ENVI-met microclimate simulation tool. The results of this study showed that increasing the vegetation ratio inside the study area contributes to considerably lower surface temperatures, while a significant reduction on mean radiant and air temperature at the pedestrian level is also achieved, forming better microclimate conditions. Urban greenery is an important factor for healthy and resilient cities. Its presence can provide lower temperatures in the pedestrian level during summer months, reforming the microclimate. The outcomes of this study can be used by urban planners and stakeholders to improve environmentally urban areas, mitigate the results of climate change, and create resilient cities.

Exploring the consequences of climate-related displacement for just resilience in Vietnam

Urban Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1570-1587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Miller
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Mekong Delta ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Climate Risks ◽  
Individual Agency ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Recognition Elements ◽  
Ways Of Life

Connections to place and relations between people are being radically reconfigured in response to climate risks. Climate change is likely to increase the scale of displacement in the Asia Pacific region, leading to intensified patterns of migration as well as resettlement. These two processes, though differing in terms of individual agency and the role of the state, are likely to further exacerbate pressure on urban areas. As the limits to adaptation in risky places are reached, people are increasingly pursuing migration as a way of coping. This strategy demonstrates people’s agency to respond to risks and opportunities. Resettlement, in contrast, tends to undermine people’s agency. This risk response is increasingly being implemented by states as part of climate change adaptation plans, yet, it often results in the creation of new vulnerabilities for those forcibly resettled. Through a focus on the ‘climate hotspot’ of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, this paper explores how communities and governments might anticipate and resolve some of the humanitarian, livelihood and ecological challenges associated with resettlement in an increasingly resource-constrained and risky climate future. The concept of just resilience is proposed as a lens through which the consequences of resettlement for people’s connections to place, each other and familiar ways of life can be understood. It is argued that a focus on just resilience reveals opportunities and threats to procedural, distributive and recognition elements of justice associated with adapting to climate change.

(R)urban Synergy vs. Climate Change

2020 ◽  
pp. 261-279
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Stupar ◽  
Vladimir Mihajlov ◽  
Ivan Simić
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Data Exchange ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Information Networks ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Ecological Awareness ◽  
Functional Flexibility ◽  
Strategic Role

The chapter provides an insight into the relationship between synergic (r)urban systems, information networks and climate change, discussing the emerging ideas, and concepts related to the increasing use of information networks in the process of climate adaptation and mitigation. Emphasizing the strategic role of both digital and material information flows, supported by ICT tools, the chapter focuses on two main domains of data exchange and knowledge transfer: the public communication of climate change and the connectivity and interaction within (r)urban hybrid systems. Underlining the issues of effectiveness, accessibility, and low-carbon outcomes of synergic (r)urban reactions to climate shift, recent environmental and technological trends are considered in accordance with the preferred spatio-functional flexibility of emerging (r)urban hybrid settlements. The chapter also identifies and analyses three areas of ICT applicability, targeting the role of information networks in the anticipated climate-friendly development: human behavior, ecological awareness, and general efficiency.

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