STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING HEAT RESILIENCE IN CITIES – WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE IN PLANNING RESEARCH AND PRACTICE?

Organizers

Gérard Hutter, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development

Contributors

Jasmin Uttner, Technische Universität Dresden
Thomas Thaler, BOKU University
Mark Scherner, BOKU University
Michael Friesenecker, BOKU University
Kalliopi Sapountzaki, Harokopio University of Athens

Planning and preparing for heat stress and heat waves are high-priority issues in cities across Europe and elsewhere – at least in theory, if not in practice. Efforts of dealing with heat stress and heat waves are closely related to efforts of climate change adaptation as one component of climate policy (the other component being climate change mitigation). Increasingly, researchers seek to assess the state of art and activity level of cities with regard to climate policy in general, climate change adaptation in particular (e.g., see the survey of Otto et al. 2021 on German cities, Reckien et al. 2018, Galderisi et al. 2020, Reckien et al. 2023 on European cities, see Araos et al. 2016, Berrang-Ford et al. 2021, Fu et al. 2024 with regard to a global perspective). Against this background, the Round Table addresses issues of strategies to increase heat resilience in cities from the perspective of strategic spatial planning (Healey 2009). The term resilience covers efforts of adaptive as well as transformative resilience. Input statements of researchers from Northern and Southern Europe provide insights into the state of work in cities like Athens, Dresden, Frankfurt, and Vienna. Input statements and contributions to discussion may refer to qualitative and quantitative research on planning (in the sense of small- and large-N research, Goertz & Mahoney 2012). The Round Table is organized to suggest some issues of high priority for future work in planning research and practice.

References

Araos, M., Berrang-Ford, L., Ford, J. D., Austin, S. E., Biesbroek, R. & Lesnikowski, A. (2016). Climate change adaptation planning in large cities: A systematic global assessment. In: Environmental Science & Policy, 66, 375-382.

Berrang-Ford, L. et al. (2021). A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change. In: Nature Climate Change, 11, 989–1000.

Fu, Q.; Zheng, Z.; Sarker M.N.I.; Lv, Y. (2024): Combating urban heat: Systematic review of urban resilience and adaptation strategies. In: Heliyon, 10, e37001.

Galderisi, A.; Limongi, G.; Salata, K.-D. (2020): Strengths and weaknesses of the 100 Resilient Cities Initiative in Southern Europe: Rome and Athens ́ experience. In: City, Territory, and Architecture, 1-22.

Goertz, G., & Mahoney, J. (2012). A tale of two cultures: Qualitative and quantitative research in the social sciences. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Healey, P. (2009). In Search of the “Strategic” in Spatial Strategy Making. In: Planning Theory & Practice, 10(4), 439–457.

Otto, A., Göpfert, C., & Thieken, A. H. (2021). Are cities prepared for climate change? An analysis of adaptation readiness in 104 German cities. In: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 26(8). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-021-09971-4

Reckien, D. et al. (2023). Quality of urban climate adaptation plans over time. In: npj Urban Sustainability, 13, 1-14.

Reckien, D. et al. (2018). How are cities planning to respond to climate change? Assessment of local climate plans from 885 cities in the EU-28. In: Journal of Cleaner Production, 191, 207-219.

Key words: Adaptive resilience, Heat wave, Strategic spatial planning, Transformation