Categorization Framework of Adaptation Measures in Urban Dry Arid Climate

Since the rise of the global climate change crisis, it has become urgent that cities apply climate-change-oriented adaptation measures as an integral part of their planning and development endeavors. Specifically, this study focuses on arid-dryland climate regions that are considered with high confidence to face a disproportionately high risk due to climate change impacts. A critical review of the literature on urban adaptation measures reveals that adaptation measures applicable to the context of the arid urban environment are spread out across various studies. Yet, there needs to be a comprehensive framework that unifies, categorizes, and further contextualizes them regarding planning parameters. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a unified framework for adaptation measures that constitute the scientific knowledge base for climate-focused city planning and development and are adjusted to the requirements of hot and dry arid environments. The review of adaptation measures for arid urban areas identified four major adaptation categories: The building code, the urban design category, the green infrastructure category, and the sustainable water management category. The outcome of our proposed procedure is the construction of inclusive adaptation categories tables that include arid-oriented climate change adaptation measures and their related planning parameters. Here, we provide the necessary landmarks for applying adaptation measures to cope with climate change threats regarding the planning of hot and dry arid climate cities.