scholarly journals The fourth generation of urban projects to tackle climate change: a typological proposal

2021 ◽  
Vol 1203 (3) ◽  
pp. 032012
Author(s):  
Gino Perez-Lancellotti ◽  
Marcela Ziede

Abstract Climate change is the major challenge of our humanity and the relationship between climate change and cities has received increasing scholarly attention from governance, urban planning and infrastructure perspectives. However, the scale of the urban project, understood as the operationalization of climate change actions, has been neglected. The current three generations of urban projects are revisited (modern city, morphologic articulation, large urban projects) and a fourth-generation within the context of climate change is identified as missing; it combines adaptation and mitigation strategies for urban projects. While adaptation strategies are oriented to minimizing the negative impact of climate change on rising sea-levels, floods and rivers’ changes through green and blue infrastructures, mitigation strategies are twofold: one oriented to minimizing CO2 gas emissions and the other to reducing the risks of deterioration of natural systems due to human intervention or natural causes. Integrating the four generations, a typology of a 2x2 matrix of urban projects is drawn up. The four quadrants of types of urban projects are explained and accompanied by examples. Potential and desirable shifts between the quadrants are discussed to understand how changes are needed to advance to develop this new generation of urban projects. The paper contributes to expanding our understanding of urban projects in the context of climate change with heuristics purposes for researchers, practitioners and academia, and to prepare public policy makers to encourage the debate of climate change actions of adaptation and mitigation that should be materialized on an urban project scale. Future research may empirically test the typology in different contexts of development.

Author(s):  
Nina Balan ◽  
Bridget Bordelon

This article examines the similarities and differences between New Orleans, USA, and Venice, Italy – two coastal cities built on river sediment that are extremely vulnerable to rising sea levels and climate change. In addition to their proximity to water, both cities are characterised by a strong economic dependence on the tourism and hospitality industry. Their adaption to increasing climate change requires different approaches and strategies which have survived progressive degradation during the last centuries. In both cases, various anthropogenic, morphologic factors and global changes have contributed to coastal erosion. Both cities' tourism numbers exceed carrying capacity and potentially pose a risk to local community well-being. The study aims to illustrate how adaptation and mitigation policies (or lack thereof) have evolved in these two international cities and develop new mitigation strategies to minimise negative impacts on the tourism economy and infrastructure.


Author(s):  
Akira Hirano

AbstractImportant aspects for understanding the effects of climate change on tropical cyclones (TCs) are the frequency of TCs and their tracking patterns. Coastal areas are increasingly threatened by rising sea levels and associated storm surges brought on by TCs. Rice production in Myanmar relies strongly on low-lying coastal areas. This study aims to provide insights into the effects of global warming on TCs and the implications for sustainable development in vulnerable coastal areas in Myanmar. Using TC records from the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship dataset during the 30-year period from 1983 to 2012, a hot spot analysis based on Getis-Ord (Gi*) statistics was conducted to identify the spatiotemporal patterns of TC tracks along the coast of Myanmar. The results revealed notable changes in some areas along the central to southern coasts during the study period. These included a considerable increase in TC tracks (p value < 0.01) near the Ayeyarwady Delta coast, otherwise known as “the rice bowl” of the nation. This finding aligns with trends in published studies and reinforced the observed trends with spatial statistics. With the intensification of TCs due to global warming, such a significant increase in TC experiences near the major rice-producing coastal region raises concerns about future agricultural sustainability.


Author(s):  
Paul Tschirky

Our environment has been experiencing changes in climate patterns in ways that were not anticipated by past designs. Coastal engineers are increasing at the center of complex multidisciplinary projects. With changing climate, rising sea levels, and growing coastal population centers, coastal engineers are key players in developing solutions for both built infrastructure and natural systems. This presentation will discuss the challenges to coastal engineering and examine some coastal resiliency approaches on recent projects and experiences in the United States.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/prjG4LTU-iU


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tallulah Harvey

This short story, “The Archive”, grew out of the eco-critical research I underwent during my postgraduate degree at Goldsmiths, University of London. In recent years, literary studies have become increasingly invested in environmentalism. The damaging consequences of human endeavour are now widely regarded within environmentalist and scientific communities, and by environmental literary theory or “ecocriticism”, as a shift from the Holocene (the geological epoch that provided the appropriate conditions for mammals to thrive), to the “Anthropocene” (the epoch in which human activity has become the dominant driving force of climatic change). The ecological implications of the Anthropocene prompt questions regarding human enterprise and responsibility; fuelling dystopian or apocalyptic end of the world narratives and anxieties towards technology, capitalism and post-humanism. This short piece explores the current problems facing climate change activists, namely the inconsistencies between the scientific community’s attitude towards ecological degradation and popular culture’s. Slajov Zizek suggests that public denial and the disassociation from environmental disaster is not caused by a lack of scientific knowledge, but because we as individuals fail to corroborate what we already know about climate change with our sensory experience of the everyday: ‘We know it, but we cannot make ourselves believe in what we know’. The Archive questions this pervasive delusion, one that denies climate change even in the face of dwindling resources, increasing natural disaster and rising sea levels. We as a society consume natural resources excessively, without any regard for the consequences.  My work draws attention to the suicidal nature of this desire, and encourages its readers to take responsibility for their actions, for the sake of humanity’s survival.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-43
Author(s):  
Nikola Fabris

AbstractFighting climate change is one of the biggest challenges in the 21st century. Climate change that leads to global warming has been increasingly visible in our environment. Extreme weather conditions such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts have been escalating and their acceleration can be expected in the future. They cause changes in sea levels, epidemics, large fires, etc. Increasingly, we are witnessing minor or major damage caused by these extreme weather conditions. Numerous studies have proven that climate change has negative impact on economic growth and prosperity. However, this paper starts from the premise that in addition to unequivocally identified threats, climate change also creates opportunities.The paper reaches a conclusion that climate change can adversely affect balance sheets of financial institutions. Therefore, climate change is a source of financial risk and thus a part of the mandate of central banks and supervisors in preserving financial stability. This type of risk has not been given enough attention by either supervisors or financial institutions over the past period. This paper develops a model for managing financial risks as a result of climate change.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Birch

Australia, in common with nations globally, faces an immediate and future environmental and economic challenge as an outcome of climate change. Indigenous communities in Australia, some who live a precarious economic and social existence, are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Impacts are already being experienced through dramatic weather events such as floods and bushfires. Other, more gradual changes, such as rising sea levels in the north of Australia, will have long-term negative consequences on communities, including the possibility of forced relocation. Climate change is also a historical phenomenon, and Indigenous communities hold a depth of knowledge of climate change and its impact on local ecologies of benefit to the wider community when policies to deal with an increasingly warmer world are considered. Non-Indigenous society must respect this knowledge and facilitate alliances with Indigenous communities based on a greater recognition of traditional knowledge systems.


Author(s):  
Sharon Friel

This chapter explains the role of human activities in driving climate change, and some of its most significant impacts. It discusses justice issues raised by climate change, including causal responsibility, future development rights, the distribution of climate change harms, and intergenerational inequity. The chapter also provides a status update on current health inequities, noting the now recognized role of political, economic, commercial, and social factors in determining health. This section also discusses environmental epidemiology and the shift to eco-social approaches and eco-epidemiology, noting that while eco-epidemiologists have begun to research the influence of climate change on health, this research has not yet considered in depth the influence of social systems. The chapter concludes with an overview of how climate change exacerbates existing health inequities, focusing on the health implications of significant climate change impacts, including extreme weather events, rising sea levels, heat stress, vector-borne diseases, and food insecurity.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 26-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasios Danos ◽  
Konstantina Boulouta

This article analyses the profound and rapid climate changes that have taken place worldwide in the past two decades and their effects on modern enterprise. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing strategies to adapt to and counterbalance future impacts of climate change sustainably are among the most pressing needs of the world today. Global temperatures are predicted to continue rising, bringing changes in weather patterns, rising sea levels, and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Such climatic events can have a major impact on households, businesses, critical infrastructure and vulnerable sections of society, as well as having a major economic impact. Therefore, society must prepare to cope with living in a changing climate. The effects of a changing climate have considerable impacts on modern enterprises. In some parts of the world, these impacts are increasingly becoming evident.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (s1) ◽  
pp. s156-s156
Author(s):  
Joseph Cuthbertson ◽  
Frank Archer ◽  
Jose-Manuel Rodriguez-llanes ◽  
Andrew Robertson

Introduction:This study profiles climate change as an emerging disaster risk in Oceania. The rationale for undertaking this study was to investigate climate change and disaster risk in Oceania. The role of this analysis is to examine what evidence exists to support decision-making and profile the nature, type, and potential human and economic impact of climate change and disaster risk in Oceania.Aim:To evaluate perceptions of climate change and disaster risk in the Oceania region.Methods:Thirty individual interviews with participants from 9 different countries were conducted. All of the participants were engaged in disaster management in the Oceania region as researchers, practitioners in emergency management, disaster health care and policy managers, or academics. Data collection was conducted between April and November 2017. Thematic analysis was conducted using narrative inquiry to gather first-hand insights on their perceptions of current and emerging threats and propose improvements in risk management practice to capture, monitor, and control disaster risk.Results:Interviewees who viewed climate change as a risk or hazard described a breadth of impacts. Hazards identified included climate variability and climate-related disasters, climate issues in island areas and loss of land mass, trans-nation migration, and increased transportation risk due to rising sea levels. These emerging risks are reflective of both the geographical location of countries in Oceania, where land mass due to rising oceans has been previously reported and climate change-driven migration of island populations.Discussion:Climate change was perceived as a significant contemporary and future risk, and as an influencing factor on other risks in the Oceania region.


2018 ◽  
Vol 138 (5) ◽  
pp. 282-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
JT Walker

Climate change is predicted to have a major impact on people’s lives with the recent extreme weather events and varying abnormal temperature profiles across the world raising concerns. The impacts of global warming are already being observed, from rising sea levels and melting snow and ice to changing weather patterns. Scientists state unequivocally that these trends cannot be explained by natural variability in climate alone. Human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, have warmed the earth by dramatically increasing concentrations of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere; as these concentrations increase, the more the earth will warm. Climate change and related extreme weather events are being exacerbated sooner than has previously been considered and are already adversely affecting ecosystems and human health by increasing the burden and type of disease at a local level. Changes to the marine environment and freshwater supplies already affect significant parts of the world’s population and warmer temperatures, especially in more temperate regions, may see an increased spread and transmission of diseases usually associated with warmer climes including, for example, cholera and malaria; these impacts are likely to become more severe in a greater number of countries. This review discusses the impacts of climate change including changes in infectious disease transmission, patterns of waterborne diseases and the likely consequences of climate change due to warmer water, drought, higher rainfall, rising sea levels and flooding.


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