PROJECT LOG: FUTURE CITIES INTERREG IVB PROJECT About the project Future Cities is a European Cooperation project aimed at raising know-how on tackling climate change in urban areas through knowledge exchange and pilot actions carried out by public service providers, including two water boards and seven urban administrations, in five countries (UK, BE, DE, FR, NL). It led a cluster of projects on climate change, called SIC Adapt, all funded by the INTERREG IVB North West Europe programme. Timing Start- finish dates: 2008 -Dec 2013. Delivered to date: Final results of knowledge exchange and pilots. To be delivered: Dissemination measures. Who is it for? The project is aiming to help planners, climate change officers, water boards and other professionals/experts investing in or managing city services and the built environment at the local or city scale. Planning Issues addressed The project focuses on the adaptive measures now urgently needed to lessen the impacts on urban living of climate change. Many of the issues addressed and actions identified are within the direct remit of planners including those working on policies, plans and development management. Given the interlinked nature of actions needed to combat climate change, all of the results provide valuable background. Key areas covered include: Understanding the impacts of climate change; and assessing vulnerability of a particular urban area to such impacts, e.g. urban heat islands and flooding; and risks and opportunities for developing adaptation measures. Possible adaptation measures including city greening; water management; increasing energy efficiency and use of renewables; and managing whole city morphology, individual elements within it, and its fabric. How coordinated action should be taken across the many organisations, authorities and individual citizens with a remit or the potential to contribute to adaptation activities; using plan making and other dissemination/facilitation measures to secure community and business participation. Key messages for planning policy/practice I. Climate change adaptation measures are now essential. Climate change is already happening. Mitigation measures are not enough on their own. Adaptation measures can also help mitigation and bring other benefits. II. Planners have a key role in the development and implementation of adoption measures which help to mitigate the effects of excessive heat, water and 1
wind through for example, shaping city morphology and fabric and creating opportunities for city greening. III. IV. Planners need to work with other experts and stakeholders to identify and secure local adaptation measures. Planners can use plan making and facilitation activities to help raise awareness and actively engage stakeholders and the wider community in contributing to the process. Key results The Adaptation Compass and accompanying guidance The key project results, available online at the project s website, are the Adaptation Compass and an accompanying Guidance document. Together they provide a framework and guidance tool, for helping to climate proof city regions, quarters, town centres, substantial redevelopment areas (but not single buildings). The Compass is a sizeable file (zip 15mb) consisting of an excel file interlinked with pdf files. The Guidance provides background information, guidance e.g. on interpreting different sorts of uncertainties and data sources, further reading and a glossary of terms. It also contains experiences of the project partners in following this sort of approach: for example, Hastings Borough Council used the Local Climate Impacts Profile, introduced by the UK Climate Impacts programme, to develop a town- wide climate change adaptation plus plan and enhanced the analysis using some techniques contributed by others to the adaptation compass. The Compass aims to provide an analysis tool for planners, water board staff and cities experts to work through together to identify measures required to climate proof a particular city or city quarter. It might take several months to work through the analysis recommended, including pulling together the data required. The accompanying Guidance can be used on its own to raise awareness of climate change impacts and adaptation measures possible. Key stages in the Compass process include: I. A Vulnerability check: looking at local physical features and socio economic conditions; assessing local sensitivities using e.g. information on former weather events, and ranking vulnerable activities/spatial areas. II. III. IV. Understanding Climate Change Effects including: the impacts and risks from higher air temperatures, heavy precipitation, and storm days/increased winds Assessment of Risks and Opportunities. Analysis from stages 1 and 2 are brought together to assess and rank future risks and opportunities. Explore Adaptation options drawing on experience of the Future Cities partnership (though these are not comprehensive). V. Determine the Need for Action by identifying the core problems and location of problem areas, ranking of risk and effectiveness of adaptation measure, further benefits accruing and legislation, political will and funding possibilities. VI. Review input data and update it as necessary at a later stage: Examples for monitoring of results are provided. 2
Explore adaptation options: This document describes the adaptation measures and approaches implemented individual project partners and dissemination measures taken individually and together across the partnership. Part 1 gives an overview of structural measures taken by partners as follows: I. Increasing green structures: e.g. installation of roofs of buildings covered with vegetation; walls of buildings covered with vegetation, parts of cities not built on (partly) covered with vegetation; II. Improving Water systems e.g. integration of water bodies or the improvement of water management through the creation of green-blue linear routes and parks. III. Measures to reduce energy consumption and use renewable energy as a complementary action to adaptation IV. Urban structure measures, addressing the whole city and its morphology i.e. the spatial layout of the city as well as its individual components and materials. Parts 2 and 3 contain a set of fact sheets illustrating these four sorts of measures in more detail and a set containing descriptions of each of the 28 individual structural measures taken in the different partner areas. See case studies for some examples. Part 4 includes fact sheets describing the 22 awareness raising measures taken by Partners to support implementation of the adaptation measures and help to change the behavior of particular target groups. Case studies The partnership covers densely populated areas in river catchments or on the coast Examples of adaptation measures taken by country and location are as follows: Belgium: City of Leper: The West-Viaamse Intercommunale created blue-green corridors to connect a district with adjacent housing area and main roads. Planners emphasised the need to include decision makers in their considerations as a way of helping them learn. France: City of Rouen: Substantial Business and housing site on the banks of the river Seine reconstructed the water system including decentralized percolation, water retention, landscape greening. Germany: Bottrop municipality and the Emschergenossenschaft (water board) cooperated to restructure an industrial park to become climate proof, including disconnecting storm water discharge from the sewer system. 3
City of Kamen: The Lippeverband (water board) created a blue-green corridor to improve the city microclimate and disconnected private properties from discharging storm water into a stream. Netherlands: City of Arnhem: developed a heat attention map to help urban planners and developers assess heat demand e.g. following the installation of solar panels; aided by the use of a computer based map table to explore different scenarios. [The Future Cities project sparked a twinning initiative between Hastings and Arnhem]. City quarter of Tiel East developed an integral scenario for water using innovative design and technical measures combining water management, climate resilient building and renewable energy. City of Nijmegen: installed green roofs and green facades on existing buildings; enabling citizens to use pavement space to plant green walls; and turned a hard surfaced car park prone to flooding into a green-blue public open space, to reduce city centre temperatures and energy needs and manage water whilst also helping to meet the likely growth in demand for open spaces due to generally higher temperatures. UK (England) Hastings/Bexhill area: The newly built Sussex Exchange is a conference centre offering optimal facilities for events on sustainability. It demonstrates how location, orientation, architectural design, natural ventilation, use of renewable energy, rainwater systems and roof greening can help create buildings which minimize undesirable impacts of climate change and build on opportunities. Dissemination measures (all partners) Key learning points included: Raising awareness of particular groups: staff, board members and local politicians; staff in different organisations needing to work together; local communities; and the younger generation in schools and higher education. Varied and new measures to reach broader communities and using the facts are key. Using innovative approaches a virtual reality game on water management to encourage cross organisation cooperation and illustrate the impact of decision taking; interactive websites for communities; a map table to help decision making of politicians. Be prepared to answer more immediate feedback and questions prompted by use of such tools. Engaging communities and stakeholders early through, for example, consultations on plans and proposals, backed up by a plan advice team Implementing visible adaptation measures to inspire others; and working with community groups to make a practical contribution e.g. one school made a renewable lighting plan for a new urban quarter. Further action 4
Planned: Hastings Borough Council is considering use of the map table computer acquired through the project to map climate change impacts and assist with planning consultations. Needed: Some local authorities in Sussex are considering use of the Adaptation Compass in the surrounding areas. Partners Lead partner: DE Lippeverband Water Board UK partner: Hastings Borough Council, England, in cooperation with the former SE England Regional Assembly and Sea Space (Hastings and Bexhill Renaissance) 5 Other partners in BE, DE, FR, NL. Further information Project website: www.future-cities.eu (and for link to SIC Adapt! project) UK contact: Chantal Lass, Sustainability Policy Officer, Hastings Borough Council. Email: class@hastings.gov.uk; Tel: 01424 451484 5