Are Cities Designed to Survive Climate Crisis, or for Comfort and Performance?

Climatic change adaptation will be a major issue for cities over the next decades, due to the substantial alterations in climate variables for the twenty-first Century and the documented repercussions that ongoing extreme weather and climate events will have on cities.

(Photo by Jamie G on Unsplash

Planning is a way to contribute to the growing conversation about how cities are being transformed to adapt to changing climates, and how they are being managed and realized.

We focus on spatial planning and improving the ability of this crucial mechanism to respond to the challenges. Urban adaptation imperative.

Climate Crisis

Climate change is one the most difficult problems we face today. It is complex in many ways – science, economy, society, politics and moral and ethical questions – and will have a profound impact on the lives of people around the world for decades to come.

Carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping greenhouse gases that has been fueling recent global warming can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds to years. The Earth, especially the oceans, takes a long time warming up.

Even if we stopped generating greenhouse gases, future generations would still be affected by climate change and global warming. As a result, humanity has “committed” to a certain level of climate change.

Also, read: Urban Expansion may lead to the extinction of more than 850 species  

(Photo : Reuters)

SETS

Situated in cities, social-ecological-technological systems (SETSThese () are dynamic and can react to climate changes. The changes affect land and resource management, social organisation, infrastructure, design, and design. Research typically focuses on the impacts of climate change on urban SETS and the qualities that urban SETS have that increase resilience to climate change.

Passive methods to urban climate-change adaptation may not consider active SETS transformation by city residents, planners, or policymakers as possible adaptation options. We will examine how SETS changes create opportunities to increase climate change adaption using data from urban socio-ecological and technological change.

Mitigation and adaptation

Mitigation refers to limiting the flow heat-trapping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. This can be done by either reducing the sources (such as fossil fuels burning for power, heat or transportation) or improving the “sinks,” which gather and store these gases (such oceans, forests and soil).

Mitigation is a way to avoid significant human interference in the climate system. It “stabilizes greenhouse gas levels in time sufficient to allow ecosystems and food production to adapt naturally to climate changes, and allows economic development to continue sustainably.”

Adapting to a changing environment means adapting to the current and future climate. Our goal is to lessen our vulnerability for climate change’s harmful consequences (like increased sea-level encroachment and more extreme weather events or food security). It also involves making the most out of any potential climate change benefits (e.g. longer growing seasons and higher yields in some areas).

Continuously adapting

People and communities have Afjusted and adapted to changes in climate and extremes to varying degrees of success throughout history. Climate change (especially drought) has played a significant role in the rise and fall of civilizations.

Earth’s climate was stable for over 12,000 years. This has been crucial for our modern society, and the development of life as we know. Everyday life has been shaped over the years by the harsh environment in which we have grown accustomed. As the climate changes, we will need to adapt. It will be more difficult to adapt as the climate changes more rapidly.

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