scholarly journals Nature-Based Solutions Tools for Planning Urban Climate Adaptation: State of the Art

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6381
Author(s):  
Ilse M. Voskamp ◽  
Claudia de Luca ◽  
Monserrat Budding Polo-Ballinas ◽  
Helena Hulsman ◽  
Reinder Brolsma
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Collaborative Governance ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Implementation Challenges ◽  
Potential Market ◽  
Market Saturation ◽  
Do So

Despite the recognized potential of nature-based solutions (NBSs) to support climate adaptation, there are still wide barriers for a wider uptake of such NBS in urban areas. While tailored NBS tools could facilitate and accelerate this process, a comprehensive mapping of their availability and capacity to respond to cities’ challenges is missing. This research aims to provide an overview of tools that intend to facilitate the uptake of NBS for urban climate adaptation supporting cities in overcoming their challenges. To do so, this paper (i) presents the results of interviews and workshops with municipal officers and decision-makers from different European cities that identified the challenges they experience with NBS uptake; (ii) selects and reviews NBS tools and (iii) analyzes them on their capacity to address these implementation challenges. Our research revealed four key challenges that municipal officers experience: resources availability; level of expertise, know-how or competence; the institutional setting, and collaborative governance and planning. The results from the tools’ review show that existing tools can support overcoming a lack of expertise (31), but, to a smaller extent, can also be of use when experiencing the institutional setting (13), availability of resources (11), and collaborative governance and planning (10) as a challenge. This work provides researchers and tool developers with insights into potential market saturation as well as scarcity of certain types of tools that would match cities’ challenges, highlighting needs and opportunities for new tool development.

scholarly journals Os casos de Chikungunya e sua relação com as condições climáticas do município de João Pessoa, PB

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2595
Author(s):  
Anne Falcão de Freitas ◽  
Joel Silva Dos Santos ◽  
Eduardo Rodrigues Viana De Lima
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Viral Disease ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Relative Air Humidity ◽  
The Family ◽  
The City

Chikungunya (CHIKV) é uma doença viral pertencente à família Togaviridae trasmitida principalmente nas áreas urbanas pelo mosquito Aedes aegypti. Pesquisas apontam que surtos recentes da CHIKV podem está relacionada com a sazonalidade, como exemplo João Pessoa, PB, representando uma emergência na saúde pública e de estudos para compreender a sua ocorrência nessa região. Dessa forma, esta pesquisa se apresenta com o objetivo de estudar a dispersão dos casos de Chikungunya e a sua relação com o clima urbano na cidade de João Pessoa/PB. Para isso, foram coletados dados dos casos de Chikungunya junto a Secretária de Saúde do munícipio visando quantificar os casos da doença por bairros da área de estudo. Também foram coletados os dados referentes clima (temperatura, umidade relativa do ar e pluviosidade), da área de estudo, a partir dos dados do Instituto Nacional de Metereologia-INMET, com posterior relação com os casos de CHIKV, por meio de gráficos. A periodicidade de coleta dos dados consistiu em 2015 a 2017, levando em consideração períodos de estiagem e chuvoso. Os resultados revelam que os casos de Chikungunya foram registrados especialmente nos bairros: Cristo, Cruz das Armas, Mandacaru, Mangabeira, Oitizeiro, Torre e Varjão. Dessa forma, pode-se afirmar que as condições climáticas juntamente com as atividades humanas proporcionam o desenvolvimento do mosquito com consequente transmissão da doença. Sendo assim, torna-se imprescindível essa compreensão para a promoção de políticas públicas de prevenção que possa auxiliar os tomadores de decisão na gestão da saúde pública do município. The cases of Chikungunya and its relationship with the climatic conditions of the municipality of João Pessoa, PBA B S T R A C TChikungunya (CHIKV) is a viral disease belonging to the family Togaviridae transmitted mainly in urban areas by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. Research indicates that recent outbreaks of CHIKV may be related to seasonality, such as João Pessoa, PB, representing an emergency in public health and studies to understand its occurrence in this region. Thus, this research is presented with the objective of studying the dispersion of the Chikungunya cases and their relation with the urban climate in the city of João Pessoa / PB. For this, data from the Chikungunya cases were collected from the Municipal Secretary of Health to quantify the cases of the disease in neighborhoods of the study area. Data on the climate (temperature, relative air humidity and rainfall) of the study area were also collected, based on data from the INMET National Institute of Meteorology (INMET), with a subsequent relationship with the CHIKV cases, using graphs. The periodicity of data collection consisted of 2015 to 2017, taking into account periods of drought and rainy season. The results reveal that the cases of Chikungunya were registered especially in the neighborhoods: Cristo, Cruz das Armas, Mandacaru, Mangabeira, Oitizeiro, Torre and Varjão. Thus, it can be said that climatic conditions together with human activities provide the development of the mosquito with consequent transmission of the disease. Therefore, this understanding is essential for the promotion of public prevention policies that can assist decision-makers in the management of public health in the municipality.Key words: Climate and epidemic, CHIKV in João Pessoa, Chikungunya cases.

scholarly journals Urban playgrounds as potential green infrastructure: The case of Thessaloniki

2021 ◽  
Vol 899 (1) ◽  
pp. 012016
Author(s):  
Garyfallia Katsavounidou
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Positive Effects

Abstract In Greek cities and towns, playgrounds, which represent a significant portion of open public space available in high density compact urban areas, fail to positively impact the sustainability of the urban environment, as they are made of artificial materials and generally lacking in natural elements. Designed around safety from accidents, a typical urban playground is equipped with prefabricated play structures, surrounded by an extensive area of rubber protective floor providing a surface safe from falls etc. This water-sealed surface does not absorb rainwater and has a very hazardous behaviour in hot temperature climates, such as Greece has. This “toxic turf,” a product of recycled elastic tires, contains chemicals suspect for cancer. In addition, trees and vegetation are usually insufficient or absent, thus worsening the overheating due to lack of shade. Although this model continues to prevail in Greece, around the world there is a significant shift towards natural playgrounds – play spaces that are designed to incorporate trees, shrubs, dirt, sand, grass, and play elements that are not industrially manufactured but constructed in situ, using stone, wood, reed, and other natural materials. From a pedagogical point of view, a stereotypical playground offers a rather dull and uninteresting environment for children to play, compared to the rich experience of a natural playground. Therefore, if designed as green infrastructure, playgrounds can considerably contribute to urban climate adaptation and a cooler microclimate and at the same time provide opportunities for urban children to come to contact with nature and benefit from free play. The scope of the paper is to present the multiple environmental benefits of natural playgrounds and to calculate the potential positive effects by the transformation of playgrounds into green spaces in a compact urban area. The field study examines the existing playgrounds in the municipality of Thessaloniki and their potential to become part of the city’s green infrastructure.

scholarly journals Saving Up for a Rainy Day? Savings Groups and Resilience to Flooding in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Urban Forum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Panman ◽  
Ian Madison ◽  
Nyambiri Nanai Kimacha ◽  
Jean-Benoît Falisse
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Dar Es Salaam ◽  
Group Model ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
Community Initiatives ◽  
Qualitative Evidence ◽  
Flexible Form

AbstractThis paper explores the role of savings groups in resilience to urban climate-related disasters. Savings groups are a rapidly growing phenomenon in Africa. They are decentralized, non-institutional groups that provide millions of people excluded from the formal banking sector with a trusted, accessible, and relatively simple source of microfinance. Yet there is little work on the impacts of savings groups on resilience to disasters. In this paper, we use a combination of quantitative and qualitative evidence from Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) to shed new light on the role that savings groups play in helping households cope with climate-related shocks. Drawing on new data, we show that approximately one-quarter of households have at least one member in a group, and that these households recover from flood events faster than those who do not. We further argue that the structure of savings groups allows for considerable group oversight, reducing the high costs of monitoring and sanctioning that often undermine cooperative engagement in urban areas. This makes the savings group model a uniquely flexible form of financing that is well adapted to helping households cope with shocks such as repeated flooding. In addition to this, we posit that they may provide a foundation for community initiatives focusing on preventative action.

Labor Migration and Climate Change Adaptation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
JAMIE DRAPER
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Labor Migration ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
Labor Migrants ◽  
Acceptable Alternative ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
The Normative Question ◽  
Do So

Social scientific evidence suggests that labor migration can increase resilience to climate change. For that reason, some have recently advocated using labor migration policy as a tool for climate adaptation. This paper engages with the normative question of whether, and under what conditions, states may permissibly use labor migration policy as a tool for climate adaptation. I argue that states may use labor migration policy as a tool for climate adaptation and may even have a duty to do so, subject to two moral constraints. First, states must also provide acceptable alternative options for adaptation so that the vulnerable are not forced to sacrifice their morally important interests in being able to remain where they are. Second, states may not impose restrictive terms on labor migrants to make accepting greater numbers less costly for themselves because doing so unfairly shifts the costs of adaptation onto the most vulnerable.

Re-thinking “Smart City” – transferring urban climate research into city planning processes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Fallmann ◽  
Hans Schipper ◽  
Stefan Emeis ◽  
Marc Barra ◽  
Holger Tost
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
City Planning ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Urban Greening ◽  
Holistic Understanding

<p>With more and more people residing in cities globally, urban areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change. It is therefore important, that the principles of climate-resilient city planning are reflected in the planning phase already. A discussion of adaptation measures requires a holistic understanding of the complex urban environment, and necessarily has to involve cross-scale interactions, both spatially and temporally. This work examines the term “Smart City” with regard to its suitability for the definition of sustainable urban planning based on urban climate studies over the past decade and own modelling work. Existing literature is assessed from a meteorological perspective in order to answer the question how results from these studies can be linked to architectural design of future urban areas. It has been long understood that measures such as urban greening, or so-called "Nature Based Solutions", are able to dampen excess heat and help reducing energetic costs. As numerous studies show however, integrating vegetation in the urban landscape shares a double role in regional adaptation to climate change due to both cooling effect and air pollution control. Using the state-of-the-art chemical transport model MECO(n) coupled to the urban canopy parametrisation TERRA_URB, we simulated a case study for the Rhine-Main metropolitan region in Germany, highlighting mutual unwanted relationships in modern city planning. Hence, we oppose the so-called compact city approach to an urban greening scenario with regard to the potential for both heat island mitigation and air quality.</p>

scholarly journals Evaporation from (Blue-)Green Roofs: Assessing the Benefits of a Storage and Capillary Irrigation System Based on Measurements and Modeling

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Cirkel ◽  
Bernard Voortman ◽  
Thijs van Veen ◽  
Ruud Bartholomeus
Keyword(s):  
Energy Balance ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Evaporation Rate ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Green Roof ◽  
Green Roofs ◽  
C3 Plants ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Air Temperatures

Worldwide cities are facing increasing temperatures due to climate change and increasing urban density. Green roofs are promoted as a climate adaptation measure to lower air temperatures and improve comfort in urban areas, especially during intensive dry and warm spells. However, there is much debate on the effectiveness of this measure, because of a lack of fundamental knowledge about evaporation from different green roof systems. In this study, we investigate the water and energy balance of different roof types on a rooftop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Based on lysimeter measurements and modeling, we compared the water and energy balance of a conventional green roof with blue-green roofs equipped with a novel storage and capillary irrigation system. The roofs were covered either with Sedum or by grasses and herbs. Our measurements and modeling showed that conventional green roof systems (i.e., a Sedum cover and a few centimeters of substrate) have a low evaporation rate and due to a rapid decline in available moisture, a minor cooling effect. Roofs equipped with a storage and capillary irrigation system showed a remarkably large evaporation rate for Sedum species behaving as C3 plants during hot, dry periods. Covered with grasses and herbs, the evaporation rate was even larger. Precipitation storage and capillary irrigation strongly reduced the number of days with dry-out events. Implementing these systems therefore could lead to better cooling efficiencies in cities.

scholarly journals Transnational Support for Urban Climate Adaptation: Emerging Forms of Agency and Dependency

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric K. Chu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Institutional Culture ◽  
External Support ◽  
Political Agency ◽  
Global Marketplace ◽  
Spatial Strategies ◽  
Transnational Actors ◽  
Economic Constraints ◽  
Political Economic

Transnational actors are critical for financing programs and generating awareness around climate change adaptation in cities. However, it is unclear whether transnational support actually enables more authority over adaptation actions and whether outcomes address wide-ranging development needs. In this article, I compare experiences from three cities in India—Surat, Indore, and Bhubaneswar—and link local political agency over adaptation with their supporting transnational funders. I find that adaptation governance involves powers of agency over directing bureaucratic practices, public finance, spatial strategies, and institutional culture. A city’s ability to exert these powers then yields different patterns of adaptation. However, political agency is circumscribed by a combination of historical political economic constraints and emerging transnational resources that promote specific forms of political meaning and procedures. The presence of external support therefore paradoxically constrains the governance autonomy of cities. This opens up new opportunities for development dependency—that is, ones that mirror neoliberal critiques of foreign aid—within the global marketplace for climate finance.

scholarly journals EXTRACTION AND VISUALIZATION OF 3D BUILDING MODELS IN URBAN AREAS FOR FLOOD SIMULATION

2019 ◽  
Vol XLII-2/W11 ◽  
pp. 669-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Kilsedar ◽  
F. Fissore ◽  
F. Pirotti ◽  
M. A. Brovelli
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Flood Simulation ◽  
Domain Experts ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Web Map ◽  
Building Models

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Floods pose a risk that is likely to worsen in the future due to climate change. Therefore, it is essential that decision makers and domain experts have the tools to evaluate the effects of floods. We developed a tool that visualizes the earth and buildings in three dimensions to simulate floods so that effective strategies can be developed to enhance resilience and mitigate the effects of floods. We opted to use open standards and free and open source software (FOSS) for Web to maximize interoperability, replicability, reusability, and accessibility. As a result of the literature review, we decided to use CityGML and CesiumJS for three-dimensional geospatial data visualization. However, as CityGML data is not available for the cities that our project focuses on, we developed software called shp2city that converts Esri shapefile to CityGML data in LOD1 or LOD2. Moreover, as CityGML data cannot be immediately used with CesiumJS, we used 3DCityDB to store, represent, and manage the CityGML data; 3DCityDB Importer/Exporter to export the CityGML data in KML/COLLADA/glTF format to be used within the 3DCityDB Web-Map-Client that is based on CesiumJS for visualization. Finally, we simulated floods to aid in the informed decision-making process regarding adaptation measures and mitigation of flooding effects.</p>

scholarly journals SEMI-AUTOMATED APPROACH FOR MAPPING URBAN TREES FROM INTEGRATED AERIAL LiDAR POINT CLOUD AND DIGITAL IMAGERY DATASETS

2016 ◽  
Vol XLII-4/W1 ◽  
pp. 127-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Dogon-Yaro ◽  
P. Kumar ◽  
A. Abdul Rahman ◽  
G. Buyuksalih
Keyword(s):  
Digital Image ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Point Cloud ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Urban Ecosystems ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Image Datasets

Mapping of trees plays an important role in modern urban spatial data management, as many benefits and applications inherit from this detailed up-to-date data sources. Timely and accurate acquisition of information on the condition of urban trees serves as a tool for decision makers to better appreciate urban ecosystems and their numerous values which are critical to building up strategies for sustainable development. The conventional techniques used for extracting trees include ground surveying and interpretation of the aerial photography. However, these techniques are associated with some constraints, such as labour intensive field work and a lot of financial requirement which can be overcome by means of integrated LiDAR and digital image datasets. Compared to predominant studies on trees extraction mainly in purely forested areas, this study concentrates on urban areas, which have a high structural complexity with a multitude of different objects. This paper presented a workflow about semi-automated approach for extracting urban trees from integrated processing of airborne based LiDAR point cloud and multispectral digital image datasets over Istanbul city of Turkey. The paper reveals that the integrated datasets is a suitable technology and viable source of information for urban trees management. As a conclusion, therefore, the extracted information provides a snapshot about location, composition and extent of trees in the study area useful to city planners and other decision makers in order to understand how much canopy cover exists, identify new planting, removal, or reforestation opportunities and what locations have the greatest need or potential to maximize benefits of return on investment. It can also help track trends or changes to the urban trees over time and inform future management decisions.

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