Resilient Cities 2

This was what ICLEI proposed in 2004 as a concrete follow-up to the partnership launched at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Unfortunately, the time was not yet ripe. Now the time has come, and most of the actors in the sustainable development field have come to similar conclusions.

Climate change is already beginning to transform the world we live in. Cities and regions around the world are experiencing seasonal shifts, rising temperatures, fluctuations in rainfall patterns and precipitation (leading to drought and floods), changes in the severity and frequency of extreme events, and accelerated sea level rise. The most pronounced changes are expected to occur in cities, particularly in developing countries as they have fewer resources to adapt socially and technically.

This chapter presents a ‘first cut’ regional vulnerability assessment that was undertaken for the South East Queensland (SEQ) region of Australia as part of a broader Climate Adaptation Research Initiative investigating adaptation of human settlements to climate change in SEQ. Despite the well-known shortcomings of vulnerability assessments, it is argued that regional vulnerability assessments of this type can be used as a starting point to enable the identification of vulnerability hotspots within a region and thus inform climate change adaptation planning and policy determination. Regional vulnerability assessments and the identification of vulnerability hotspots can provide insights and focus for policymakers across all sectors. They enable the identification of the circumstances that put people and places at risk as well as the factors that reduce people’s ability to respond to changes.

Scientists predict that sea level rise will intensify wetland loss, saltwater intrusion, and the problems caused by waves, storm surges, and shoreline erosion (Nicholls et al., Trans R Soc 369:161–181, 2011). The ability to accurately identify low-lying lands is critical for assessing the vulnerability of coastal regions. To do this, coastal managers need elevation data and other coastal zone information, but these data are not always available at resolutions appropriate for making state and regional governance decisions on climate change and adaptation. Coastal Resilience (Ferdaña et al., Adapting to climate change: building interactive decision support to meet management objectives for coastal conservation and hazard mitigation on long island, New York, USA. In: Andrade Pérez A, Herrera Fernandez B, Cazzolla Gatti R (eds) Building resilience to climate change: ecosystem-based adaptation and lessons from the field. IUCN, Gland, 164 pp, 2010) is an ecosystem-based planning framework and web mapping application that visually displays ecological, socio-economic, and coastal hazards information to examine different adaptation solutions. This technical study highlights the limitations and opportunities of mapping sea level rise in Southern New England, USA, in order to evaluate coastal vulnerability and therefore appropriate adaptation strategies. We compared the accuracy of digital elevation data between a nationwide data set with a seamless, multi-state data set that incorporated local high-resolution data. Based on an independent accuracy assessment, the integrated elevation data approach using local- and regional-scale data was 55% (or 1.25 ft) more accurate than the national elevation data set alone. Results of this work indicate that regional elevation data sets are less accurate in determining different sea level rise scenarios than when integrating best-available local elevation data sets with regional data sets. With this approach, we can better assess the impacts of climate change to vulnerable low-lying lands and help communities identify adaptation plans that protect vulnerable coastal communities and ecosystems, allow for natural resource migration, and reduce socio-economic risk to coastal hazards.

This chapter explores the potential economic impacts of sea-level rise (SLR) on the Irish coast, with a special focus on coastal cities. A first pass estimate of potential economic impacts is developed through the use of an Irish digital terrain model (DTM) in conjunction with a geocoded directory of Irish property addresses and historical Irish flood insurance claims data. Potential land inundation impacts and land class vulnerabilities are also presented. The headline results indicate that approximately 350 km

2

of land is vulnerable under a 1-m SLR jumping to 600 km

2

at 3 m. Potential economic costs relating to property insurance claims are in the region of €1.1 billion under a 1 m scenario increasing to over €2.1 billion with a 3 m scenario. These modelled outputs could be used by Irish local government authorities as inputs when developing their local adaptation plans. They also highlight the importance of fully implementing an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) approach to foster Irish coastal resilience.

Current climate change projections indicate that heavy rainfall is an increasing problem in many areas around the world, including the São Paulo Metropolitan Region, Brazil. This will result in severe flooding and landslides in the upcoming years. Therefore, the geography of climate change vulnerability is vital to adaptation planning. Using Geographic Information System (GIS) and mapping tools such as digital elevation models (DEM), this chapter identifies the main areas affected by floods and landslides. We characterize such areas by their biophysical dimensions and socio-economic status. In turn, we not only focus on the physical environment but examine the geography of socio-political determinants of vulnerability. Overall, this chapter will highlight which areas are vulnerable to climate change and what we can expect in 2030.

The Mediterranean climate, the major climate type of southern European countries, is characterized by hot and dry summers, with periodic drought periods. In this general context, in 2005 and 2007, two important drought episodes took place in Catalonia, Spain.

Within these critical periods, the Catalan Government approved several regulatory measures in order to maintain available water resources, regulate the use of water and preserve the household water supply for as long as possible.

In this regard, one of the public bodies’ main concerns was to guarantee the water supply to the city of Barcelona and the Greater Barcelona area, where 3.5 million people live. This required strong coordination among the Catalan Regional Government, the Metropolitan Entity of Hydraulic Services and Waste Treatment (EMSHTR), together with local governments such as Barcelona City Council.

With the aim of achieving the stated goals, the regulatory measures focused on the application of progressive water restrictions on urban supplies. This was assessed according to the different drought status scenarios as well as on numerous communicative actions and some other measures to preserve the supply and to involve citizens in the fight against water depletion. One of the communicative activities was the “Install me!: Every drop counts” campaign, which involved the free distribution of water-saving devices for taps. This campaign played a crucial role in regards to water savings and behavioural changes.

In August 2009, Chinese Taipei experienced its worst floods in 50 years after Typhoon Morakot struck almost the entire southern region. During the 3-day event, Typhoon Morakot brought copious amounts of rainfall, peaking at 2,500 mm, which triggered severe flooding throughout the region. The Kaoping River Basin was one of the most impacted regions in southern Taiwan. In the upper catchment of the Kaoping River Basin, the Shaolin Village was completely destroyed by the floods, and more than 500 villagers were buried by the mud rock flow. After the flooding, researchers and volunteers from local universities, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) jointly initiated an environmental impact assessment, monitoring, and rebuilding project and formed a disaster-area investigation team. The major tasks for the volunteer team were to (1) collect field and environmental data, (2) construct geographical information system (GIS) for disaster areas, (3) delineate environmentally sensitive area, (4) perform victims’ counselling and assistance, and (5) develop environmental rebuilding plans. Field investigation results show that there are more than 15 potential hazardous areas inside the basin, which are mainly (1) potential flooding and landslide areas, (2) potential pollution areas (including waste landfills sites and flooded industrial sites), and (3) source water intake area. As the Shaolin Village is located inside a potential flooding and landslide area, a new green and sustainable village (Shaolin Green Village) has been built in a lower catchment area outside of the sloping field. In the green village, each home has a solar energy system for electricity generation and rainwater catchment system for irrigation. An on-site treatment system and subsurface flow constructed wetland system have been designed for wastewater treatment, and the treated water has been recycled for irrigation purposes. The experiences and findings obtained from this study would be useful in developing strategies to minimize the impacts of flooding on the Kaoping River Basin and other similar watersheds.

Due to the results of the climate change prognosis for Saxony County, and especially the Ore Mountains, the number of heavy rain events will have a higher recurrence interval in the near future. There were more prognosticated heavy rain events with destructive capacity for the urban areas. The urban areas are densely located especially in the valleys of the East Ore Mountains, which form natural run-off channels for heavy rain events in flood generation areas. Straightforward climate change measures must be taken into account such as sustainable land use technologies. Additionally, in flood generation areas appropriate flood protection concepts, for example, engineered protection methods, should be implemented. The key activities in terms of flood protection in the Geising/Altenberg area include a potential analysis of retention effects as well as the discussion on the effectivity of compensation measures on agricultural lands, settlements and forestry areas. The main scope was an assessment of the efficiency of possible compensatory measures to support the effect of the natural water infiltration and water retention in the flood generation areas. The required flood protection measures in the flood generation area of Geising and Altenberg must not affect the natural character of the area. The inclusion of mining facilities for flood retention or discharge was evaluated to be critical.

Crisis and disasters impose significant threats to sustainability and have the power to affect society, the environment, and economy. The capacity of a city to respond ‘creatively, preventively and proactively to change or extreme events, thus mitigating crisis or disaster’, is to be resilient (ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability 2002).

Population growth, climate change and accelerated economic activity will increase the demand for food, water and energy. As these three issues are interlinked and interdependent, securing them is central to alleviating poverty and creating climate-resilient and robust green economies. As engines of economic growth and social development, cities are at the forefront in creating innovative solutions to such challenges. In turn, this paper will first examine how Mexico City is securing its water resources by focusing on the Programme of Sustainable Water Management in Mexico City for 2007–2012. Moreover, the Mexican government is realizing that issues of water security are closely linked to food and energy security as reflected in the various government plans, particularly in the Climate Action Programme in Mexico City 2008–2012 (PACCM). The PACCM proposes both mitigation and adaptation strategies in areas of water management, energy, transport and waste management. Finally, this chapter concludes that as urbanization and planning in cities becomes more complex, Mexico City will have to act under the coordination of planning agencies and will have to work on the creation of appropriate legislation with the strength of civil society.

As hubs of innovation, economic activity and social melting pots, cities can lead the way in testing new approaches to make our increasingly urban planet more resilient. Natural infrastructure—ecosystems such as forests or wetlands that provide a steady flow of benefits like clean air and water, flood and drought protection and climate regulation—has a key role to play in addressing the three major challenges for urban resilience: water, energy and food security. Investing in nature can help cities save money whilst boosting the local economy, enhancing quality of life, securing livelihoods and generating employment.

The challenge of sustainable and energy-efficient cities has been recognized by international organizations as well as local communities. Discussions and actions undertaken in this context indicate the close connections that exist between adaptation and mitigation policies on the one hand and economic development that gives rise to technology development paths on the other hand. Cities’ commitments to climate change and adaptation needs are increasing, as well as the necessity of forward thinking techniques. To address these challenges, the EU Commission has recently launched a new initiative to fund implementation projects of Smart Cities.

In this context, the relevance of concepts—in comparison to the multitude of existing approaches—needs to be assessed. The European Institute for Energy Research (EIFER) has started a research project to identify the most important working fields and topics for cities on their way to tackle this question. Energy efficiency measures seem to be the key element in order to exploit the systemic approach.

First results of this project show that most approaches are either too specific or focus on smaller parts of the urban site. New forms of cooperation between research, business and infrastructure providers are needed. For example, the ‘smart city’ is an emerging concept that aims to tackle energy efficiency and sustainability in cities and tries to bring municipalities, utilities, industry and research together. By addressing some of the remaining gaps in urban knowledge and management, the ‘smart city’ approach will contribute to more sustainable and resilient cities.

Food and nutrition security in cities have gained political importance since 2007 and 2008. During this time, high food and fuel prices resulted in widespread reports of riots and social unrest in cities around the world. The projected impacts of climate change coupled with urbanization will put even a greater strain on urban populations whom, as net consumers, rely mainly on the market for their food. As such, food and nutrition security of urban dwellers are needed for more resilient cities. This paper highlights why and how food, agriculture and natural resource management are to be part of disaster risk reduction, urban management and climate change policies. In this context, the specific and important contribution of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) to the food system is underscored. The benefits of a multidisciplinary territorial approach to support local food systems centred on cities are then described. In particular, we highlight how integrating sustainable diets, management of natural resources and ecosystems with strengthened urban-rural linkages contributes to more resilient cities. Lastly, this paper illustrates how local authorities play a key role in promoting these multi-sectoral and multi-actor approaches to enhance more resilient food systems.

This paper deals with three main issues in the context of urban agriculture: first, the conceptualization of urban agriculture as an urban development strategy by using the possible positive synergies created through an interweaving of urban and rural spheres, second, the opportunity to improve the living conditions and qualities of life of urban inhabitants in terms of social development and income creation based on urban agricultural activity, and third, the importance of the action research approach in finding answers to the question of how can urban agriculture contribute to a more healthy, independent, and sustainable provision of food for cities (and regions), using Casablanca, Marocco, as an example.

The ideas, thoughts, analyses, and results presented below should all be considered in the context of the inter- and transdisciplinary research project

Urban Agriculture as an Integrative Factor of Climate-Optimised Urban Development, Casablanca, UAC

, within the framework of the Future Megacities research programme funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Big agglomerations are deeply affected by the impacts of climate change particularly in dense areas. Currently, the climate of these areas is affected by urban structures. Consequently, the whole Ruhr region has to deal with climate adaptation. Most cities in the Ruhr region have some distinctive features that differentiate the urban climate from the climate of its surroundings. For example, there are large industrial brownfields in Essen that neighbour very dense inner city areas, with a high potential for developing urban heat islands. The problems of the urban climate will amplify with ongoing climate change and will lead to various problems and impacts on the city and its population. As a result, the city of Essen adopted the pilot project “City Faces Climate Change – Integrated Strategies for Essen” in the ExWoSt-Program “Urban Strategies for Climate Change – Municipal Strategies and Potentials” funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transportation, Building and Urban Development. While this project is still in progress, nearly half of the duration of the project is now over. In turn, this paper will present only the initial results of this project.

This chapter aims to stimulate a new way of thinking about urban development using examples from Central and Eastern European (CEE) cities. It suggests to integrate common approaches in urban development with measures of climate change adaptation. This chapter also recommends to employ a systems thinking approach of mapping interdependencies between elements of the urban system to identify the most rewarding measures that satisfy both the needs of urban development and climate change adaptation. By addressing these needs simultaneously, synergies can be realized.

Transitioning towards a more sustainable and resilient architecture requires a balance between eco-efficiency, architectural quality and quality of life at the building, neighbourhood and urban level. In Trondheim, Norway, a 35-ha site is being developed into a high-quality, low-emission neighbourhood in which the most convenient choice is the most environment-friendly one, including transport and land use, stationary energy, consumption and waste and climate change adaptation. Long-term intensive interdisciplinary and cross-institutional co-operation is pursued between local and national governments, research and education, industry and end users in order to reach this ambitious goal.

In summer of 2010, a parallel commissioning process was initiated to devise a holistic master plan for the Brøset site, with a final delivery in January 2011. The results show that the Brøset project and process, rare in a Norwegian and international context, entail far-reaching implications for people’s lifestyles, neighbourhood organisation and national urban planning and governance strategies.

This chapter describes the development of the Brøset neighbourhood and the Norwegian programme ‘Cities of the Future’, including the scope, stakeholders, performance criteria and financing schemes. The importance of facilitating this kind of process is analysed as a proactive form of supporting transition towards a more resilient society, allowing for leeway from tight economic limits in order to find ‘golden opportunities’ through interdisciplinary and cross-institutional co-operation. In conclusion, we discuss how this process can contribute to creating scenarios for a built environment in which eco-efficiency is successfully combined with liveable, functional, robust and attractive architecture for all the actors involved.

Currently, cities are confronting a multitude of challenges including climate change, demographic change, urbanization and land subsidence. Resulting flooding, droughts and other disturbances could lead to water shortages, severe interruptions, hydraulic problems or underutilization of water infrastructure systems. One way that cities can become more resilient is by diversifying their water resources and reducing their dependency on central water infrastructures. Water infrastructure systems consisting of decentral or semi-central partial systems would be more resilient because a failure in these systems would only affect a small part of the urban area. Instead of an incremental improvement of the water infrastructure, there is a need for system innovations that will allow an adaptive development to changing conditions and which will ensure that future sustainability challenges are met. However, moving towards more resilient water technologies is seen as controversial for built-up areas. To answer the question if a transformation to a more resilient water infrastructure in built-up areas is feasible (technically and economically), a balancing and assessment of the corresponding effects have been done by way of comparing a “transformation” scenario with a reference scenario “business as usual”. If one takes a long-term period of observation (70 years), the costs balance of the scenarios “reference” and “transformation” both turn out to be on a comparative level. By contrast, the consumption of environmental resources in the scenario “transformation” is almost twice as low as in the “reference”.

Cities and their institutions are key players in building urban resilience to the risks posed by climate change. However, neoliberal policies further the transition from the state as the ultimate risk manager within urban settlements towards the private sector, households and individuals. Such shifts have significant justice and equity implications for climate change adaptation at the local level, particularly for the most vulnerable (i.e. children living in urban poverty). Drawing on examples from both developed and developing countries, the key challenges for building ‘equitable’ urban resilience through climate change adaptation measures at the metropolitan scale are highlighted.

In Bangladesh, the cities, as the main centres of growth, have to respond to both the challenges of climate change and urban poverty in the context of rapid urbanization. Metropolitan authorities however have only limited personnel, technical and financial capacity for this task. In Khulna, Bangladesh’s third largest city, the existing transportation infrastructure needs to be expanded to meet future needs and to feed into the concept of inclusive city growth. The city’s low-lying position along the Rupsha river means it has to deal with increasing incidences of flooding and waterlogging of whole city districts. Furthermore, the influx of poor from rural areas is leading to an increase in the size and number of slum settlements in the city. The German government has started to work with the city to address these issues, with the aim of sustainably improving the living conditions of the urban population via crucial infrastructure investments and municipal governance reform. In addition to providing technical assistance to the municipality, the German government is planning a major € 10.5 million investment in transport infrastructure through KfW Development Bank (German Financial Cooperation). This chapter illustrates how climate- and poverty-related aspects such as flood protection, road and pedestrian safety and slum access schemes can be integrated within an urban infrastructure development and management approach.

When considering the range of spatial planning actions that cities can take to adapt to climate change, many of them fall under the conceptual umbrella of green infrastructure (GI). GI has been defined as the spatial planning of landscape systems at multiple scales and within varying contexts to provide open space, safeguard natural systems, protect agricultural lands, and ensure ecological integrity for cultural, social, and ecosystem benefits (Benedict and McMahon, Renew Resour J 20:12–17, 2002, Green infrastructure: linking landscape and communities. Island Press, Washington, DC, 2006; Ahern, Cities of the future. IWA Publishing, London, 2008). While the traditional definition of GI refers to areas of land that are least intervened by human action, in this expanded definition, we are deliberately including areas that are engineered to mimic natural processes and which provide cost-effective ecosystem services.

Although climate adaptation is a fairly new policy goal for GI (Gill et al., Built Environ 33(1):115–133, 2007; CCAP,

http://www.ccap.org/docs/resources/989/Green_Infrastructure_FINAL.pdf

, 2011), three key characteristics qualify GI as a suitable tool for adaptation planning including multifunctionality (to match ecosystem benefits with adaptation needs), multi-scalar nature of the spatial elements, and a ‘no-regrets approach’. However, GI needs to be matched to the character of the urban environment and coordinated across jurisdictions and planning scales to become an effective adaptation policy. In this chapter, we present a policy framework, the green infrastructure transect, that can help planners and policymakers identify appropriate GI policies for different urban environments and describe how these policies can create a regional adaptation planning framework.

Life on this planet is constantly adapting to new circumstances and to changes in its surroundings, including variations in climate patterns. However, a faster rate of population growth and rapid urbanization trends, particularly during the last century, have increasingly challenged human and ecosystem responses to both climate and non-climate-related impacts. Furthermore, as non-climate factors – consumption trends, animal farming practices and land-use patterns, in addition to population growth – put additional stress on ecosystem services and man-made infrastructure, climate change impacts further exacerbate these (mostly) negative effects.

The vulnerability of urban systems and communities to climate change can be extremely high. Many cities are vulnerable due to their dependence on fragile urban systems, and this is particularly true for the poor and other marginalized groups residing in these cities. Planning for urban resilience must, as a result, address the factors that contribute to system fragility while also ensuring access to such systems by marginalized as well as more socially and economically advantaged communities. While the above conceptual challenge may be clear, practical strategies for building climate resilience by addressing the fragility of systems and addressing the needs of marginalized communities are only beginning to emerge.

This chapter presents the approaches, methods and initial results of resilience planning and practice undertaken by cities in India and Vietnam as part of the Rockefeller Foundation “Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network” (ACCCRN). It then draws on some of the initial learnings from this experience and discusses ways of embedding urban climate resilience planning into sustainable development at the local level and into national development planning frameworks.

In Santiago de Chile, the combination of recent urbanization patterns, increasing demand for water, energy and land, and climate change will provide challenges particularly with respect to equitable distribution of different resources and the amplification of existing levels of vulnerability, which are generally not distributed uniformly across urban populations. In response, the international project

ClimateAdaptationSantiago

(CAS), operating at the science-policy interface, seeks to develop adaptation measures according to related vulnerabilities for the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de Chile in the key sectors of energy, water and land use.

Science-related activities include projecting local climate change (with a focus on the urban-regional level), estimating its consequences by explorative scenarios and finally proposing adaptive measures. Acting at the science-policy interface, the project strongly builds on a participatory process with key institutional representatives from a wide variety of different sectors of society (public and private sector, civil society and academia, and multilateral organizations).

This chapter addresses the question of how stakeholder involvement helps (a) to best incorporate perspectives on long-term adaptation into short political agendas and (b) to bridge the sector divide in designing local adaptation measures.

Climate change is expected to have severe physical, social, environmental and economic impacts on cities worldwide, both directly and indirectly. These impacts are expected to have a disproportionate effect on those living in poverty in developing countries, particularly Africa.

In July 2009, ICLEI Africa Secretariat initiated the Five City Adaptation Network project. Already the project is providing some useful and insightful information on the current understanding and experiences of the threats associated with climate change, adaptation and climatic data resources available in Southern Africa. Due to the variety of respective governance and decision-making processes of the cities, the project utilizes a number of entry points (i.e. different sectors or departments) in order to ensure that the project is aligned to areas that are prioritized by the cities and where projects of similar nature are already underway. The use of these tools has assisted and improved the interaction with the various key stakeholders around the topic of climate change and adaptation whilst moving towards enhancing engagement and holistic decision-making processes covering climatic risks, sectoral linkages and the development of locally appropriate adaptation mechanisms. Through this project, a number of mechanisms and tools have been developed to understand the risks, impacts and vulnerabilities at the local level and to prioritize the climatic variable/s that is/are currently impacting the city services, infrastructure and reliability as service providers (i.e. infrastructure, day-to-day service delivery and livelihoods of the local population). This paper describes some of the tools that have been recently developed by the ICLEI Africa team and are being used in Southern Africa to develop and increase capacity around the terms and complexities pertaining to climate change. These tools will also enable the identification of local climatic risks and locally appropriate adaptation options that are likely to increase the resilience of African local governments and communities.

Climate change is a reality and it will impact human and natural systems despite the worldwide measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Adaptation to climate change is therefore an urgent task, and while climate change is a global challenge, adaptation needs to be place based. Adapting to climate change requires a multi-level approach supported by sufficient and suitable information regarding the different stakeholders. Despite existing information gaps, a vast amount of knowledge and information related to climate change has already been generated and made available, yet in practice, only a fraction of this information is used by adaptation policy makers and decision-makers. The skills and capacities of adaptation stakeholders to use existing information are constrained – at the community, local and national government level, among European policymakers, researchers and knowledge providers. Difficulties exist regarding identifying knowledge from a wide range of sources, analysing this information and adapting it to the local context. A collaborative approach, a common language and a continuous collaborative learning between the different stakeholders can help overcome these barriers.

The climate change guidelines for urban planning in the Basque Country have been developed by Ihobe on behalf of the (Basque Network for Local Sustainability 2011) (Udalsarea 21) and the Basque Government as a part of the regional public policies regarding climate change mitigation and adaptation. The guidelines are configured as recommendations to municipalities with a special focus on adaptation as Udalsarea 21 has issued previous guidelines for mitigation. Work has included a wide review of initiatives on urban planning for climate change in several countries and sessions with technical staff from different disciplines and levels of government, showing widespread awareness about the problem and a common demand for a clear legal framework at the regional level. The main findings are a strategy to “translate” climate issues to local planning normative elements, and the need in the Basque planning context to “think regionally to act locally”, overcoming the administrative boundaries to achieve successful adaptation outcomes in issues like flood control.

Adaptation processes in metropolitan areas are notably faced with nescience and uncertainty about future challenges and with various competing stakeholders, vulnerabilities, interests and responsibilities. By using

Integrated Roadmapping

, the region Emscher–Lippe–Ruhr will develop a reference framework for a region-spanning adaptation process that both connects previously isolated topics and continuously coordinates knowledge, activities and goals of local administrations, corporate sector and society.

A number of commonly used approaches have emerged in local climate change adaptation planning, which can be considered as different ways of framing the meaning and purpose of adaptation. The significance of framing in adaptation planning is to date largely unexplored in adaptation research and practice. Yet both social and institutional drivers of adaptation framing can set the course for adaption planning for local or regional governments. This chapter examines the concept and social drivers of explicit and implicit adaptation framing and also draws on the relevant findings from 20 regional and local adaptation projects and initiatives across a wide range of sectors, scales and locations in Australia. The results from this analysis confirm the significance of transparent adaptation framing for effective project scoping. In particular, they point to the likelihood of needing to adjust the project scope throughout the lifespan of an adaptation initiative as the underpinning frames change, and additional climate change implications, as well as non-climatic factors influencing the project, emerge. Building on these findings, future studies into the framing of local adaptation processes can further contribute to both adaptation theory and practice.

Local governments have recognized the need to adapt to climate extremes. Decision-makers at this level thus require a guide to decide on adaptation actions under an unsure future. This chapter explores methods to choose better adaptation options for climate extremes at the local government level, even as uncertainty among climate change projections persists. As such, two local governments in widely different geographic areas are featured – one from a developed nation (Ku-ring-gai, eastern Australia) and another from a rapidly developing nation (Kochi, southern India). The limits of economic evaluations and the significance of qualitative tools under an unsure environment are discussed within the two local contexts. Furthermore, the applicability of recent literature that deals with uncertainty is also studied. For example, some studies choose options that are robust under the best and worst case scenarios, while others choose the ‘no regret options’ that are justified under all plausible future scenarios. Other criteria for determining adaptation options include the net benefits of the options, urgency of the options, co-benefits of the options and reversibility and flexibility of options. Various evaluation criteria are tested in the two locations to develop a realistic decision-making framework that can rank options for extreme climatic events.

Faced with the prospects of a changing climate, a small but increasing number of countries have adopted or are developing legal and regulatory frameworks that explicitly address climate change. Moreover, at least some of these laws and policies carve out substantial roles for local governments. The chapter surveys three countries from different regions in the Global South engaged in developing and implementing such laws and policies: the

Philippines

(Asia-Pacific),

Mexico

and more specifically its State of Chiapas (Latin America) and

South Africa

(Africa). The chapter analyses the predominant modes of multilevel urban climate governance (governing by authority, governing through enabling, governing by provision, governing with representation and consultation) that those laws or policies embrace. The chapter then offers conclusions including which experiences represent promising practices and other lessons for countries embarking on such processes.

Amid the complexity of actually planning for adaptation and mitigation in cities, spatial form matters. Denser urban environments generally have lower per capita emissions because they enable transit and more efficient heating. At the same time, a larger green infrastructure can be beneficial to adaptation, as it provides room for urban greening, storm and flood water management, and treatment of other ill-effects of climate change. City plans need to reconcile both goals to be fully climate resilient, but to date, there has not been an empirical evaluation on whether the adaptation policies cities are choosing create conflict with mitigative goals. To address this, we undertake a content analysis of policies in 11 major adaptation plans and explore the implications of these for mitigative potential in the urban form. Overall, we found that many of these policies do not require dedication of new space and likely have little effect on mitigation. For those that require more space, we suggest ways this can be managed to still facilitate mitigation. Examples include repurposing automobile roads into green infrastructure and using coastal retreat and habitat corridors to transfer development to more transit-friendly urban areas. We see a virtuous circle emerging where mitigation and adaptation work together at the city scale to create more desirable cities.

Norwegian experiences on Local Agenda 21, local climate change mitigation and local climate change adaptation are compared. One conclusion drawn from these experiences is that climate change adaptation lacks the normative impetus for local action that Local Agenda 21 and climate change mitigation have had, thus making it harder to include climate change adaptation in serious policy making. Another conclusion is that climate change adaptation is framed in a way that can be counterproductive to climate change mitigation. By focusing only on the partial effects of changes in local climate conditions and ignoring the possible local effects of climate change in other countries, climate change vulnerability assessments tend to conclude on far less dramatic consequences compared to the general debate on the global effects of climate change. In turn, climate change sceptics may use this information to challenge the conclusion that serious steps need to be taken to avert disaster. The final conclusion is that currently both climate change mitigation and adaptation receive little attention in policymaking at the local, regional and national level.

According to the International Panel on Climate Change, while majority of the efforts to combat climate change have been centred on mitigation, climate change adaptation is becoming crucial for effective and efficient climate change strategies. This is demonstrated by the growing importance of concepts like vulnerability, adaptive capacity and resilience of socioecological systems in the international political agenda.

Along these lines, several of the climate change initiatives developed in the Basque Country express the need to develop climate change adaptation plans from a proactive and anticipatory perspective in order to minimize the impacts on ecosystems, human health and wellbeing, regional economy and infrastructures. Despite the competitive advantages and economic benefits which can be provided by the implementation of climate change adaptation strategies, many governments have not yet included such measures in their policies and plans. In this regard, the project PACC-Vitoria (Climate Change Adaptation Plan of Vitoria-Gasteiz) was formalized and launched in mid-2010 through a collaboration agreement between the Basque Government, the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz and the Unit of Environment of Tecnalia (research centre located in Bilbao, Spain).

Setting different targets for mitigation and adaptation between central and city government generates a different focus on climate change implementation for each level of government in Indonesia. Nevertheless, both mitigation and adaptation share an obvious common denominator, climate change, and are connected to each other on the operational level. As a result, linking mitigation and adaptation in an integrated climate action plan (adaptive management) is the best way to make Indonesian cities more resilient.

Some training sessions and workshops have already taken place for implementing an integrated climate action plan. As an output, city governments can generate an Integrated City Climate Change Strategy (ICCCS) – a cross-sectoral guideline for supporting the establishment of city policies and measures related to climate change.

Although linking mitigation and adaptation can generate mutual benefits, the difference and potential conflict between the two approaches have also been well documented. To avoid this harmful link, city governments need to be aware of the indications of maladaptation and mal-mitigation at the start of program implementation. Moreover, close coordination between city and neighbourhood districts is the most important way to prevent a harmful link between mitigation and adaptation at the city level.

In August 2010, the Korean government enacted the National Climate Change Adaptation Master Plan under the Framework Act on Low Carbon, Green Growth (LCGG). Prior to this, the Ministry of Environment (MOE), which is in charge of the national adaptation strategy, launched the Korea Adaptation Centre for Climate Change (KACCC) in July 2009. The MOE and KACCC have also introduced programs to support local governments’ adaptation action plans. However, each of the 16 local governments is still required to develop their own action plan to cope with climate change. For example, in 2010, two pilot projects concerning local-scale climate change adaptation planning and climate change adaptation guidelines for local governments were completed. Through such assistance, local governments are developing their own 5-year plans based on the national adaptation strategy.

At the Resilient Cities 2011 congress, the case of Ho Chi Minh City was presented and discussed by participants during the Reality Check Workshop. The current paper provides a comprehensive overview on the challenge of integrating climate-related risks in the urban development trajectory of the city as well as a short summary of the discussion that took place in the workshop.

The finance challenge for building urban resilience and adapting to climate change is daunting, but the costs of doing nothing are even dimmer. As cities grow, they concentrate more people and assets, and with this, greater risk of economic loss. The costs of a single storm event on a city’s infrastructure and urban services can exceed US$ 1 billion. Of the estimated global adaptation costs of US$ 80–100 billion per year, 80% will need to be spent in urban areas alone (World Bank 2010). At the same time, international climate finance is failing to provide anywhere near such quantities.

This chapter briefly presents a strategic framework for effective deployment and leveraging of limited available climate adaptation funds. This chapter summarizes the full report ‘Financing the Resilient City: A Demand Driven Approach to Development, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Climate Adaptation – An ICLEI White Paper’ prepared in response to a concurrence among experts at the Resilient Cities 2010 congress and launched at the Resilient Cities 2011 congress in Bonn, Germany.

Despite the current economic downturn which has affected many countries around the world, cities in principle have resources at their disposal to tackle climate change. To make the smartest interventions and to do more with less, urban leaders need to become more ‘business savvy’ in terms of how they make use of local assets ranging from empowering residents to better policymaking on planning, procurement and pension fund investments.

In the face of a growing sustainability challenge, cities are becoming increasingly important actors. Municipal leaders are stepping up their efforts to adapt to the consequences of climate change and to mitigate the future impacts of greenhouse gas emissions. Becoming more resilient has become a key challenge for many cities. At the same time, major bottlenecks remain, and financial restrictions continue to be a stumbling block for cities when turning vision into reality, particularly those in less-developed regions. This chapter aims to contribute to this emerging discussion on the synergies between mitigation and adaptation and argues that the private sector has an important role to play. This is captured in the concept of green-driven growth, which emphasizes the potential benefits of a local green industry to a city’s quest for greater resilience: green jobs and green products. When looking at the various types of wind energy businesses in selected Indian cities, an assessment of company activity shows that the majority of green business can indeed be found in those sectors that either create additional jobs or those that offer green products for the municipality.

GAIA project has been financed with EU LIFE+2008 call. The purpose of the project is to build up a public-private partnership between the Municipality of Bologna and local businesses in order to finance the realization of new green urban areas. This will actively contribute to Bologna’s adaptation strategy by tackling the heat island effects and by creating a more resilient town. New green areas will also contribute to sequestrate carbon dioxide emissions.

This chapter will look at the opportunities and challenges of adaptation financing based on the adaptation work done by the city of Copenhagen. The chapter reflects on the city’s adaptation plans which have recently been approved by the city council. It describes the different measures that the city has initiated in order to prepare the city for the expected climate changes especially when it comes to storm water management. The implementation, which has just started, has become more pressing after a major storm in July 2011. The chapter also describes the legislative issues connected to financing adaption measures in Denmark. The city of Copenhagen has identified a number of issues where the national legislation is insufficient to meet the needs of the city.

Climate Change – especially in developing countries – requires additional financial capacity to adapt to more severe climatic stresses and build resilience. Infrastructure needs due to climate change have to be identified in the framework of integrated urban development strategies and need to be distinguished from the “usual” infrastructure and development needs. If looking for finance through international institutions (global funds, development and commercial banks, donors and private investors), cities are well advised to get involved in respective national strategies, influence them and align with them: many of the international sources will channel their resources through national governments. Some observations from a development bank perspective will be offered in this chapter.