With frequent extreme heat events (EHEs), rapid urbanization, and uneven social development, the impact of EHEs on health has attracted increasing attention. Comprehensive assessment of heat-related health risks is important for tolerating hot weather. To address the limitations of previous assessment methods in regard to the appropriateness of indicators and the fineness of mapping scales, in this paper, we proposed a quantitative method for assessing heat-related health risks at the grid scale. A combination of multisource remote sensing data and demographic-socioeconomic data was utilized to develop an integrated heat health risk index (HRI) that considers the three dimensions of heat hazards, human exposure, and vulnerability in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). Compensating for the limitations of land surface temperature (LST) and meteorological station data, daily maximum and minimum air temperatures were retrieved to characterize heat hazards and subsequently calculate the hazard index. Gridded population density data were also developed based on nighttime light data to calculate the exposure index. Multidimensional indicators were derived to describe vulnerability, including demographic characteristics, socioeconomic conditions, infrastructure status, governance, and medical resources. By combining the hazard, exposure, and vulnerability indices, an HRI map of the YRD was developed. Furthermore, the spatial heterogeneity and the dominant factors of the heat health risk were examined. The high-risk areas were predominantly concentrated in southern Jiangsu, the Shanghai-Hangzhou Bay urban agglomeration, and the central urban area of prefecture-level cities. This phenomenon suggests synergy between increased human exposure and heat hazards in these metropolitan areas. Due to a low economic development level, the resilience against heat risks in underdeveloped regions such as northern Anhui is low. This study contributes to the identification of areas vulnerable to heat stress, which can help decision-makers optimize local urban heat risk management strategies.

How to cite: Wu, H., Pan, Y., Zhao, C., and Zhu, Y.: Spatially explicit assessment of heat health risk in the Yangtze River Delta, China using multi-source remote sensing and socio-economic data, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-2194, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-2194, 2024.

The adverse effect of climate change continues to expand, and the risks of flooding are increasing. The transport system is crucial for daily life and threatened heavily by floods. Despite advances in emergency management for transportation, we still lack an integrated framework to examine the impact of transport system under floods. In this study, we propose an integrated approach to quantitatively assess how floods impact the functioning of a highway system. The framework has three parts: (1) a simulation model to represent traffic, heterogeneous user demand, and route choice in a transportation network; (2) a flood simulator using future runoff scenarios generated from global climate models and the CaMa-Flood model; and (3) an impact analyzer, which superimposes the simulated floods on the traffic simulation system, and quantifies the flood impact on a transportation system. This framework is illustrated with different cases studies including the Chinese highway network, urban transportation networks in 40 cities in China and road traffic system in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Because of climate change, adaptation strategies are critical for mitigating future flood damage. Our approach provides a quantitative assessment tool to evaluate the effectiveness of adaptation measures. The results show that for different global climate models, the associated flood damage to a transportation system is not linearly correlated with the forcing levels, or with future years and floods in different years have variable impacts on regional connectivity. These results have critical implications for transport sector policies and can be used to guide highway design and infrastructure protection. The approach can be extended to analyze other networks with spatial vulnerability, and it is an effective quantitative tool for reducing systemic disaster risk.

How to cite: Wang, W.: Flood impacts and adaption for transportation, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-5529, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-5529, 2024.

In 2015, with the publication of the UN Agenda, sport has been recognized as instrumental for sustainable development. The Agenda consists of guidelines for the future and is in line with the recommendations of the 2020 Olympic Agenda: in fact, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) believes that sports and the Olympics can help develop the majority of the Agenda goals.

The next Olympics will be held in Paris in 2024 and will be the first organized according to the sustainability principles set up by the Agenda. This case is supposed to mark a turning point in the history of the Olympics. However, these objectives remain fairly vague in that they are not defined by concrete criteria.

Here we develop a method that starting from the analysis of the Agenda goals provides a series of requirements to discretise and evaluate quantitatively the long-term sustainability of the event. This study investigates, with particular focus on the urban and architectural aspects, the relations between the event and the host city, between people and context and between event and environment. Much importance is given to public infrastructures, the wellbeing of visitors and athletes and the needs of the host city. We study the Olympic venues, assessing how many of them already exist, are temporary, or have been built for the event, as well as which materials were used in the realization [fig.1]. We pay attention to the legacy of the event, which implies planning from the beginning the future of the city after the Games. In fact, the Olympics in Paris are part of a wider process of expansion of the city: the construction of a large infrastructure network, the Grand Paris Express, and the redevelopment of the suburban district of Seine Saint-Denis [fig.2].

With this method, we can easily analyse results of studies and field research, like visits to the building site, and evaluate the impact of the event. This study is the beginning of a process that allows us to analyse and compare different Olympic editions within a single coherent framework.

How to cite: D'Ercoli, C.: From the UN Agenda 2030 to the organisation of a mega sustainable event: the case study of Paris 2024 Olympics., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-13167, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-13167, 2024.

Climate change is leading to more frequent and intense heat waves, exposing urban populations to extreme heat conditions, and posing significant health risks. Many cities are adopting nature-based solutions (NbS) to mitigate urban heat, with green roofs emerging as a universal NbS. They are advantageous as they can be easily implemented in dense urban areas without requiring extra land and are generally effective in cooling. Although numerous green roof projects are implemented on a small scale, research on the effectiveness of small-scale green roofs in heat reduction is limited. Consequently, we assess the cooling potential of small-scale green roofs, identifying the traits of successful implementations and how these differ from green roofs that result in maladaptation. We utilized a quasi-experimental design methodology to improve causal inference, effectively isolating the impact of individual green roofs from background climate changes using publicly available green roof data and longitudinal satellite imagery. In our study of 11 green roof projects in Seoul, we noted that intensive-type green roofs had a cooling effect. In contrast, projects that experienced temperature increases typically featured extensive vegetation and structural elements that increased albedo. This evidence can assist decision-makers in reducing risks of maladaptation and enhancing effective adaptation practices. This method is expected to support governments, especially those with limited budgets, in efficiently managing urban heat, reducing trial and error. Ultimately, our research holds the potential to significantly contribute to the sustainability of society and the environment.

How to cite: Kim, S. and Park, C.: Investigation of Urban Heat Mitigation and Thermal Maladaptation Potential from Small-Scale Green Roofs: A Case Study in Seoul, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-15922, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-15922, 2024.

The energy crisis in Europe, triggered by growing demand for fossil fuels and exacerbated by recent health emergencies and geopolitical tensions, is putting additional pressure on an environmental context already made fragile by the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events caused by climate change. These events have significant consequences on both natural and anthropogenic systems. In addition, the exponential increase in population, concentrated mainly in urban areas, amplifies dependence on external primary resources. In fact, contemporary settlement patterns, combined with lifestyles characterized by high consumption of resources such as food, water, and energy, accentuate socioeconomic and/or environmental impacts resulting from climate change.

Interrelated and overlapped crisis conditions represent a new field of investigation for the experimentation of approaches, strategies, and technical solutions in response not only to climate adaptation and mitigation objectives but also to the satisfaction of needs, expression of emergent habitat complex conditions.

In this context, the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus approach emerges as a key response to understanding and managing the interconnectedness of resources, external drivers of climatic, geopolitical, demographic, and/or socioeconomic nature, and the impacts on affected communities. 
This integrated system approach emphasizes how the three dimensions - food, energy, and water - are closely interdependent and mutually affect each other. The nexus approach aims to consider these resources synergistically, recognizing that decisions and actions developed for one of the considered topics, can significantly impact the others.  Addressing challenges in these three dimensions in a coordinated way can help reduce environmental impacts and promote more efficient and sustainable use of global resources.

The FEW nexus integrated approach examines the complex dynamics associated with the development of innovative strategies and technologies. This approach allows to realize an assessment of alternatives of technological solutions and build a coherent set of indexes to make a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of performances and benefits of integrated food and energy production systems at different scales.

Among complex systems, Agrivoltaic systems represent a challenging case study to test the FEW nexus integrated approach, being integrated systems capable of dual exploitation of the soil both as a productive green area for food cultivation and energy generation from renewable sources. Such systems, both in open spaces and combined in the built environment, emerge as potential examples of convergent innovation and represent a model of integration between innovative technologies and sustainable strategies, addressing complex contemporary issues in a systemic way.

The goal is to promote self-production and resource management in the urban context, preserving ecosystem services and generating co-benefits that can have widespread positive spillovers in terms of environmental and social benefits and economic opportunities.
The implementation of integrated systems and the application of systems approaches such as the FEW nexus form the basis for pursuing sustainable and resilient solutions for urban systems in response to the pressing challenges imposed by the climate and energy crises and the resource scarcity they entail.

How to cite: Marandino, F., Santomartino, G., and Tersigni, E.: Photovoltaic-Green Systems for Urban Transition. An Integrated Approach for the Assessment of Food-Energy-Water mutual benefits in the Emergent Habitat , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-17669, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17669, 2024.

Soil artificialisation due to urban sprawl, infrastructure development and concreting is one of the causes of the loss of urban biodiversity. In addition, the rise in global temperatures as a direct consequence of climate change has become a major challenge for urban planning. The urban heat island, which is mainly the result of the waterproofing of soils to encourage surface reflection (Aldebo), contributes to global warming. The Urban Digital Twin, a design tool that can simulate, predict and monitor through the implementation of data, enables urban resilience strategies to be put in place.

This proposal aims to discuss the relationship between the "Zero Net Artificialization (ZNA) by 2050" objective (the ban on artificialization over a " defined period ") of the 2021 French "Climate and Resilience" legislation and the "Urban Digital Twin" in view of building models for planning cities that are more resilient to heat islands.
The first part of this presentation is devoted to the development of a methodology for selecting data (type of land use, topography, albedo of materials, etc.) and implementing them in numerical models in order to obtain "urban and climate Digital Twins".
The second part of this document is devoted to the methodology for evaluating the various strategic models developed in the first part of the document at different scales, from the block to the territory, but also over different temporalities in line with the ZNA objective (currently conditional on the renaturation of an equal proportion of artificialised spaces over a specific timeframe) and further research into the fight against heat islands.

By using the Urban Digital Twin to meet the ZNA objective, this proposal focuses on developing predictive models for controlling heat islands in an attempt to guide urban planning towards sustainable and resilient environments.

How to cite: Josse, F.: The connection between the "Zero Net Artificialisation 2050" objective and the "Urban Digital Twin" tool, a methodology for assessing strategies to reduce the risk of urban heat islands using data., EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-17811, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-17811, 2024.

KEYWORDS: climate risk, climate resilient design, urban settlements

INTRODUCTION. Urban areas face environmental multi-risk conditions involving biophysical and socioeconomic subsystems, leading to complex interactions. Recent research focuses on compound risks resulting from hazard interactions, posing challenges in defining impacted exposed urban systems by multiple events.

Nevertheless, several enhancements about the methodologies are to be addressed, to identify urban areas with the highest compound risk impacts.

Therefore, to provide an overview of the risk arising from climate change a multidisciplinary approach to assess climate-related disaster risks is needed, considering all aspects contributing to increase hazards, exposure, and vulnerability.

Within this thematic framework, it is important to identify factors defining an urban context as environmentally critical. Such urban contexts represent areas where single or interconnected hazards, along with exposure and vulnerability conditions, determine higher risks. These higher-risk areas are hotspots where to take action with climate-resilient strategies to reduce vulnerability.

OBJECTIVES. The goal of the contribution is to develop a conceptual framework for modelling multi-risk conditions in urban and metropolitan areas throughout a taxonomic knowledge of critical urban contexts. Specifically, the contribution aims to identify heatwave-related hotspots as locations where there are additive effects of hazards and overlapping impacts.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. The methodology for urban settlements’ analysis integrates soft, hard, and demographic systems, separating physical and functional-service aspects.

The physical part includes Green, Grey and Population subsystems with different features: built-up areas (Grey), natural services and green systems (Green).

The methodology has been applied in the study case of Nola city, in the metropolitan area of Naples.

The thematic maps, resulting from the analysis of these sub-systems, has been overlapped with environmental, technological, functional-spatial elements and exposure factors like population distribution. The relationship between urban critical context assets (built-up features, road traces, geomorphologic conditions, natural and green elements, socio-economic conditions, etc.) and key environmental factors identifies hotspots.

This knowledge model evaluates the inherent vulnerability of physical subsystems using indicators such as phase shift, attenuation, albedo and NDVI for built-up system (buildings and outdoor spaces).

Exposure is only related to the population.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS. The results show that the built-up system behaves inadequately to heat waves. The impermeable surfaces are 26% and located in the historic centre. About 12% of the population, children and old people, are weaker to heatwaves negative effects.

The experimentation allows to develop a knowledge model for the identification of the hotspots, and to support climate-resilient design choices for the reduction of the vulnerability to heatwave, based on the exposed population.

The contribution is developed within the research Partenariato Esteso PE3, RETURN project (multi-Risk sciEnce for resilienT commUnities undeR a changiNg climate) (MUR Project Number: PE00000005), in the framework of the Spoke TS1 - Urban and metropolitan settlements activities, and within Programma PON R&I 2014-2020 - Asse IV “Istruzione e ricerca per il recupero - 840 REACT-EU”, Codice Unico di Progetto (CUP) 65F21003090003.

How to cite: Sferratore, A., Verde, S., Dell'Acqua, F., and Losasso, M.: From critical urban context to heatwave-related hotspot. An exposure-based application for a study case in the metropolitan area of Naples, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18465, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18465, 2024.

In the process of transitioning into resilient urban areas, cities face a wide variety of challenges in relation to adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development. Commonly these challenges are addressed in a merely isolated fashion, or only two out of the three objectives are tackled simultaneously. It is pivotal to take a systemic approach over time in order to maximise synergies and minimise trade-offs between these different policy objectives. Climate Resilient Development Pathways (CRDPs) aim to integrate adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development into flexible pathways over time, while considering (deep) uncertainties regarding climate change, as well as other sources of uncertainty. Climate resilient development pathways seek to support integrated planning and implementation of climate action. Currently no comprehensive framework exists for operationalising CRDPs. There is a need to develop a methodology for the practical pursuit of climate resilient development pathways. 

This research presents a novel approach to operationalise climate resilient development pathways, using the well-established method for adaptation pathways, so-called “dynamic adaptation policy pathways (DAPP)”, as a starting point. The CRDP process starts by envisioning multiple desirable futures and understanding the decision context and current policy objectives and actions for adaptation, mitigation and development. Thereafter the synergies and trade-offs are assessed between the different climate actions, as well as tipping points are identified – meaning points in time when new actions will be required. Consequently, alternative actions are co-developed for the future to pursue desirable pathways. The final outcome is a pathways map, as well as an implementation and monitoring plan. An urban case-study to demonstrate the applicability of climate resilient development pathways is presented for the city of Cork in Ireland. 

CRDPs can be created for different climate-related impacts such as flood and heat, as well as for a wide variety of development issues. The main target groups of the approach are decision makers and/or (urban) planners, although a wider engagement is recommended for different steps during the co-creation process of the pathways. Climate resilient development pathways support integrated climate action planning, interlacing adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development through designing flexible pathways over time that provide insights into the range of options to achieve resilient urban futures.  

How to cite: Langendijk, G., McEvoy, S., Jeuken, A., and Haasnoot, M.: Urban resilience through integrating adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development - a novel approach to operationalise climate resilient development pathways , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-18661, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-18661, 2024.

In line with the IPCC's recommendations, managing the risks associated with extreme climate events requires a holistic approach covering both structural and non-structural measures for the project of climate adaptation. The former involves the implementation of green infrastructures and the integration of hybrid systems into conventional gray infrastructure through low-impact development (LID) systems and Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). The second involves the investment of economic resources in governance programs aimed at prioritizing adaptation and mitigation actions, the adoption of innovative technologies for ecosystem mapping and monitoring, and the implementation of climate risk prediction information models.

NBS are sustainable technological systems capable of responding to current climate challenges by tapping into the natural capacities of ecosystems to provide regulating ecosystem services. Implementation in the urban system of NBS aims to harness and preserve the natural functions of ecosystems, providing multiple benefits such as managing weather flows, reducing the heat island effect, improving air and water quality, preserving biodiversity, and improving the quality of life and health.

The integration of these types of solutions into increasingly complex urban systems requires integrated data-driven systems to support technology choices and decision-making processes to maximize their achievable benefits and co-benefits for local communities. The current challenge requires the use of enabling technologies that can identify and localize urban regeneration opportunities while reducing the risk of uncertainty and error.

The goal of such an approach is to optimize processes toward practices, policies, and solutions that know how to derive the greatest benefit in terms of resilience. This approach is very common in territories affected by major environmental disasters that need a fast and effective response to climate risks. The study aims to examine the best practices stemming from the interstate “Louisiana Watershed Initiative” (LWI) to deepen the integration of NBS in climate adaptation projects. 
In particular, through the analysis and critical use of the "NBS Explorer "tool,  the model of "Opportunity Maps" is explored in its products "Restoration Opportunity Map" and "Preservation Opportunity Map”.

The results emphasize the use of an information model based on multi-criteria assessment, which, through the overlay mapping technique, identifies the optimal areas for the implementation of NBS. Furthermore, the LWI takes a bottom-up approach through a decision-making platform that facilitates interaction between policymakers, funders, local communities, and planners. This platform, by providing data and support tools, fosters a multi-directional and synergistic dialogue between stakeholders, playing an integrative role in the decision-making process and implementation of NBS.

Thanks to the involvement of different users, NBS can be selected and prioritized, taking into consideration quantifiable and comparable benefits and co-benefits in different design scenarios. The proposed approach implies that data collection is guided by a clear objective and specific knowledge needs. Data selection begins with a detailed understanding of the questions and objectives, avoiding an indiscriminate approach to information collection.
The key element lies in leveraging data effectively across various phases of climate adaptation projects, enabling informed decision-making and the implementation of targeted NBS.

How to cite: Di Palma, M., Rigillo, M., Esposito De Vita, G., and Leone, M. F.: Mapping the opportunities of Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Adaptation: bottom-up approach in the Louisiana Watershed Initiative case study, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-19387, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-19387, 2024.

At present, worldwide population and economic expansion boosts the demand for environmental resources and urban development. According to the 2022 United Nations World Population Prospect, the global population may reach up to 9.7 billion people by 2050 of which nearly 70% will be residing in urban areas. As a result, the urban setting will become increasingly complex and with more geological and climate negative effects exacerbated by the increasing population, the unequal distribution of economic and energy resources, and the over-exploitation of the environment.

To face these worldwide issues, a global approach to knowledge is required with concerted actions by all countries and cities. One possible solution addressing this need could be achieved firstly by classifying cities throughout the world as complex systems defined by geological, subsoil-related climate impact, environmental, and anthropic factors considered in a more holistic way.

To achieve this objective, the Urban Geo-climate Footprint (UGF) project, aimed to define a new methodology to classify and cluster cities by geological and climatic point of view.

The basic assumption of the UGF approach is that cities with similar geological-geographical settings should have similar challenges to manage, due to both common geological issues and climate change subsoil-related effects. Following this approach, a holistic tool consisting in a complex spreadsheet has been developed and applied to several European cities, in collaboration with several Geological Surveys of Europe.

It is demonstrated as the Urban Geo-climate Footprint tool is currently capable of providing a semi-quantitative quick representation of the pressures driven by geological and climatic complexity in the analysed cities, providing for the first time such classification for the urban environment.

Through the wide application of this methodology several benefits could be reached as the general awareness increase of non-experts and the enhanced reading-the-landscape capacity of decision makers about the link between geological setting and the increase in pressures due to climate change and anthropogenic activity.

Furthermore, the UGF approach would facilitate the possibility to exchange best practices among similar cities for planning purposes, and it would support the decision processes to define and differentiate policies and actions, also supporting policy and cooperative geoscience and climate justice.

How to cite: La Vigna, F., Lentini, A., Galve, J. P., Benjumea-Moreno, B., Bricker, S., Devleeschouwer, X., Guarino, P. M., Kearsey, T., Leoni, G., Romeo, S., and Venvik, G.: Decoding the urban geo-puzzle: navigating geological issues and global challenges through the lens of the Urban Geo-climate Footprint , EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-20428, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-20428, 2024.