Practical guidelines for climate proof cities

Cities are vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The most efficient way to make cities more climate proof is through numerous relatively small and local measures, which can often be carried out parallel to major maintenance or renovation work. These were the findings of a final report published recently by the Climate Proof Cities research programme.

Climate Proof Cities (CPC) has yielded a considerable amount of knowledge on how to make Dutch cities more climate proof, with a focus on heat stress and flooding resulting from peak downpours. Together with Alterra, the Meteorology and Air Quality and Landscape Architecture chair groups played a prominent role in the CPC study. 'We made an essential contribution to the execution and analysis of meteorological measurements on all scale levels in the city,' says co-author Bert van Hove from Wageningen University. 'We also made an important contribution to the further development of weather models to once again predict the impact of the future climate down to the neighbourhood level. Using measurements and model simulations, we mapped out the current and future urban climate for Dutch cities and gained a better understanding of the processes that determine the climate and thermal comfort in the urban environment.'

Also essential to the CPC project was Wageningen's contribution to the design of green urban landscape elements. The main question was how to use green urban landscape elements as effectively as possible to maintain the quality of life in our cities under changing climate conditions, with more heat stress days and extreme downpours. Wageningen was also involved in the development of guidelines and tools for policy-makers and urban developers in order to give substance to the organisation of the city as climate-proof and water-robust (www.ruimtelijkeadaptatie.nl).

Provided by Wageningen University