scholarly journals Understanding Public Acceptance of a Multifunctional Water Plaza: A Case Study

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 576
Author(s):  
Leon Netzel ◽  
Emily Drewing ◽  
Louis Netzel ◽  
Martin Denecke

Climate change enhances pluvial flood risk in many cities all over the world, especially in densely populated urban areas with high impervious surfaces that need to adapt to heavy precipitation. For this purpose, multifunctional stormwater infrastructures such as water plazas appear promising as there is a high competition for open space in most urban areas. Yet, to date only very few water plazas have been realized with at least one implementation hampered by a lack of public acceptance. In this study, semi-structured interviews are used to investigate how plans to build a water plaza in the city of Cologne are perceived by local residents. Factors crucial to public acceptance are identified. Experience with flooding, knowledge of the planned construction and awareness of benefits turned out to be important for acceptance, whereas social and personal norms were less relevant. The identified factors led to finding recommendations to promote public acceptance of innovative climate adaptation measures like water plazas.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4807 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Guerrero-Hidalga ◽  
Eduardo Martínez-Gomariz ◽  
Barry Evans ◽  
James Webber ◽  
Montserrat Termes-Rifé ◽  
...  

In the current context of fast innovation in the field of urban resilience against extreme weather events, it is becoming more challenging for decision-makers to recognize the most beneficial adaptation measures for their cities. Detailed assessment of multiple measures is resource-consuming and requires specific expertise, which is not always available. To tackle these issues, in the context of the H2020 project RESCCUE (RESilience to cope with Climate Change in Urban arEas), a methodology to effectively prioritize adaptation measures against extreme rainfall-related hazards in urban areas has been developed. It follows a multi-phase structure to progressively narrow down the list of potential measures. It begins using less resource-intensive techniques, to finally focus on the in-depth analysis on a narrower selection of measures. It involves evaluation of risks, costs, and welfare impacts, with strong focus on stakeholders’ participation through the entire process. The methodology is adaptable to different contexts and objectives and has been tested in two case studies across Europe, namely Barcelona and Bristol.


Author(s):  
Alessandro Scuderi ◽  
Luisa Sturiale ◽  
Giuseppe Timpanaro ◽  
Giovanni La Via ◽  
Biagio Pecorino

AbstractOne of the factors that will affect the livability of cities and the overall citizens’ quality of life in the future is certainly climate change. Urban areas will play a fundamental role in the commitment against climate change and will have to develop appropriate adaptation actions, in accordance with the European Strategy against climate change, including the planning and implementation of Green Infrastructures (GIs). They produce various environmental and social benefits in the urban context. Various studies have shown that citizenship involvement at all levels is necessary for the evaluation of the sharing of the proposed projects. The research proposes an innovative methodological model to support administrations in the strategic planning choice of GIs according to a shared and circular approach. To perform a multi-layer assessment, the multi-criteria evaluation will be combined with the circular evaluation model called Green City Circle. The evaluation is set up as a circular process, followed by a first investigative phase, followed by a proactive phase of solutions and an implementation phase up to a final stage of evaluation of the results and strategies for long-term sustainability. The study was carried out in the city of Catania to test a planning and management tool for GIs envisaged by the administration as win–win climate adaptation measures.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1559
Author(s):  
Donghyun Kim ◽  
Jung Eun Kang

Climate change adaptation is challenging in community planning because of the conflict between planners’ scientific knowledge and residents’ local knowledge. Focusing on the Bansong Pilbongoreum community in South Korea, we suggest a community-based adaption plan that uses local knowledge and builds consensus between local residents and planners by identifying problems and planning objectives. We applied this plan to our case study, using in-depth interviews, a community workshop, local knowledge, and scientific climate adaptation measures to identify the community’s problems and develop a plan. Planners and residents must communicate so that planners can incorporate local knowledge into effective planning objectives for community adaptation.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Can Bıyık

The smart city transport concept is viewed as a future vision aiming to undertake investigations on the urban planning process and to construct policy-pathways for achieving future targets. Therefore, this paper sets out three visions for the year 2035 which bring about a radical change in the level of green transport systems (often called walking, cycling, and public transport) in Turkish urban areas. A participatory visioning technique was structured according to a three-stage technique: (i) Extensive online comprehensive survey, in which potential transport measures were researched for their relevance in promoting smart transport systems in future Turkish urban areas; (ii) semi-structured interviews, where transport strategy suggestions were developed in the context of the possible imaginary urban areas and their associated contextual description of the imaginary urban areas for each vision; (iii) participatory workshops, where an innovative method was developed to explore various creative future choices and alternatives. Overall, this paper indicates that the content of the future smart transport visions was reasonable, but such visions need a considerable degree of consensus and radical approaches for tackling them. The findings offer invaluable insights to researchers inquiring about the smart transport field, and policy-makers considering applying those into practice in their local urban areas.


2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. 2251-2259 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. U. Hasse ◽  
D. E. Weingaertner

As the central product of the BMBF-KLIMZUG-funded Joint Network and Research Project (JNRP) ‘dynaklim – Dynamic adaptation of regional planning and development processes to the effects of climate change in the Emscher-Lippe region (North Rhine Westphalia, Germany)’, the Roadmap 2020 ‘Regional Climate Adaptation’ has been developed by the various regional stakeholders and institutions containing specific regional scenarios, strategies and adaptation measures applicable throughout the region. This paper presents the method, elements and main results of this regional roadmap process by using the example of the thematic sub-roadmap ‘Water Sensitive Urban Design 2020’. With a focus on the process support tool ‘KlimaFLEX’, one of the main adaptation measures of the WSUD 2020 roadmap, typical challenges for integrated climate change adaptation like scattered knowledge, knowledge gaps and divided responsibilities but also potential solutions and promising chances for urban development and urban water management are discussed. With the roadmap and the related tool, the relevant stakeholders of the Emscher-Lippe region have jointly developed important prerequisites to integrate their knowledge, to clarify vulnerabilities, adaptation goals, responsibilities and interests, and to foresightedly coordinate measures, resources, priorities and schedules for an efficient joint urban planning, well-grounded decision-making in times of continued uncertainties and step-by-step implementation of adaptation measures from now on.


Author(s):  
Danny Singh

This book provides a unique study on the lower ranks of the Afghan police force due to the lack of empirical evidence of what attributes to the causes, practices and consequences of corruption in this institution. The book is divided into a number of sections. It commences with an understanding of how corruption, and narrowly police corruption, impact on the police force, state legitimacy and the strategies in place to mitigate such problems as part of broader security and post-conflict reconstruction initiatives. The theoretical framework comprises political, economic and cultural drivers of police corruption by drawing on semi-structured interviews with elites and a survey and structured interview conducted with street-level police officers. The findings infer that weak oversight and low pay are causes of police corruption which intensify bribery and roadside extortion. The lack of professionalism, partly due to short and unclear training, and patronage are deemed as meanings of police corruption. In terms of motivation, there is no sense of pride in Afghan policing to fulfil a clear mandate. Moreover, non-meritocratic recruitment is prevalent which exacerbates local influences, loyalties and job buying in either high-drug cultivating or urban areas. To curb patronage, police officers are rotated to distant provinces but economic hardship is further increased when catering for large families with fewer breadwinners. The book concludes that the problems with police corruption and failure to combat it results in low public confidence and state illegitimacy which can support violent opposition groups to create further instability in war-torn societies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Nonaka ◽  
H. Yanagihara

For people who hunt and eat hebo (Vespula spp., wasps) it is more about culture than it is about food production or environmental sustainability in mountainous central Japan. Individuals who currently semi-cultivate hebo do not intend to industrialize hebo semi-cultivation. Semi-cultivation of hebo is a seasonal activity and it is a hobby for them. This paper focuses on the declining number of wasp hunters. The number declined because younger generations did not take up the hobby or moved to urban areas in search of jobs. Hebo hunters thus consisted of seniors only. The number further declined as those who reached old age were no longer able to practice hebo hunting. Very recently, initiated a promising new development at Ena Agricultural High School. The support to the Hebo Club initiative was quickly expanded and now covers the members belonging to the Japan Vespula Association, and academics involved in edible insect research. We present an overview of the efforts of hebo hunters to maintain and promote the use of Vespula spp. as food and we describe the Hebo Club, a promising recent initiative spearheaded by the students of Ena Agricultural High School. The information was collected between fiscal 2015 and 2017 (namely from September 2015 to March 2018) by participant observation and semi-structured interviews with hebo hunters collaborating with the Hebo Club activities. The Hebo Club uses a hands-on approach: students gain knowledge on edible wasps and their semi-cultivation by actively engaging in the semi-cultivation of the wasps. The club thus teaches the students about resource use by engaging in resource use. The students are taught by experienced wasp hunters how to find, collect, house, and raise hebo. The Hebo Club’s colonies are housed in a shed in the school research forest. By cooperating with the members belonging to various Hebo Associations of south-eastern Gifu and northern Aichi, the students experience the variation in employed techniques and equipment, and make observations of hebo biology and ecology in different environments. Other than the hebo season, the club practice develops their idea for local development and applying it to tourism according to the evaluation of their activities. The successful beginning of the Hebo Club, a well-organized cultural initiative spearheaded by youngsters who are backed by seniors, is indicative of how people caring about hebo culture in central mountainous Japan maintains and preserves its culture and identity.


Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Cirkel ◽  
Bernard Voortman ◽  
Thijs van Veen ◽  
Ruud Bartholomeus

Worldwide cities are facing increasing temperatures due to climate change and increasing urban density. Green roofs are promoted as a climate adaptation measure to lower air temperatures and improve comfort in urban areas, especially during intensive dry and warm spells. However, there is much debate on the effectiveness of this measure, because of a lack of fundamental knowledge about evaporation from different green roof systems. In this study, we investigate the water and energy balance of different roof types on a rooftop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Based on lysimeter measurements and modeling, we compared the water and energy balance of a conventional green roof with blue-green roofs equipped with a novel storage and capillary irrigation system. The roofs were covered either with Sedum or by grasses and herbs. Our measurements and modeling showed that conventional green roof systems (i.e., a Sedum cover and a few centimeters of substrate) have a low evaporation rate and due to a rapid decline in available moisture, a minor cooling effect. Roofs equipped with a storage and capillary irrigation system showed a remarkably large evaporation rate for Sedum species behaving as C3 plants during hot, dry periods. Covered with grasses and herbs, the evaporation rate was even larger. Precipitation storage and capillary irrigation strongly reduced the number of days with dry-out events. Implementing these systems therefore could lead to better cooling efficiencies in cities.


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