Urban areas

Climate change impact assessment has been an integrated part of the design and planning of the Copenhagen metro since the first metro line was designed in the mid-1990s. Apart from the first metro line, opened in 2002, and the extensions in the following years, which are partly subterranean, Metroselskabet, the Copenhagen metro company, is now constructing the City ring, an underground metro ring in the city centre of Copenhagen, which is scheduled to open in 2018.

The river Waal bends sharply and narrows near Nijmegen, the Netherlands. That the river may flood at high water as a result became clearly evident in 1993 and 1995. Adequate measures are necessary in order to protect the inhabitants of the city against this type of flooding and its impacts. In the case of Nijmegen, these measures involve moving the Waal dike at Lent and constructing an ancillary channel in the flood plains.

The Flemish coast is intensively used by many actors. A safety test of the coastal defences showed that about one third of the coastline together with parts of the harbours are not sufficiently protected against severe storm events, being minimally for a 1000-year event under current conditions and when taking into account a sea level rise of 30 cm in 2050. In 2007, the Flemish Government started the elaboration of an Integrated Master Plan for Coastal Safety that was eventually approved by the Flemish Government in June 2011.

This case study describes the flood risk management plan and the related restoration of a formerly canalized eight kilometer stretch of the Isar river in the city of Munich (the so called “Isar Plan”). Still in the beginning of the 19th century, the Isar river was a typical wild alpine river with wide gravel islands and sandbanks and a constantly changing river bed. In the middle of the 19th century after repeated flooding suffered by the Lehel, Au and Thal districts in Munich, hydraulic regulation began and the riverbed was canalized.

The old office building at Groot Willemsplein, Rotterdam, dating back to the 1940’s, was renovated to give it a new life with commercial functions on the ground floor and flexible office spaces at the other floors. The most important climate adaptation and mitigation measure implemented is the energy-efficient cooling and heating system. An Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) system supplies the building with heat and cold. In summer, heat will be absorbed and stored in a ground water aquifer, this stored heat can be used in winter to heat the building.

Climate change impacts which are expected to be very relevant for the Madrid region include extreme heat in summer, water scarcity and sometimes, heavy rainfall. In 2012, the new building of the energy department of the Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies (IMDEA) was delivered. The new building, located in Móstoles 18 kilometres southwest from central Madrid, incorporates different climate change adaptation solutions.

Stuttgart’s location in a valley basin, its mild climate, low wind speeds, industrial activity and high volume of traffic has made it susceptible to poor air quality. Development on the valley slopes has prevented air from moving through the city, which worsens the air quality and contributes to the urban heat island effect. A Climate Atlas was developed for the Stuttgart region, presenting the distribution of temperature and cold air flows according to the city’s topography and land use.

Over a century ago a sparsely populated landscape of water meadows was transformed into an industrial conurbation, and the untamed river Emscher turned into a man-made system of open waste waterways. Due to ongoing subsidence caused by mining, it was impossible to build an underground sewer system. Therefore, the Emscher and its tributaries were regulated and used to transport the wastewater together with rainwater on the surface. This made the Emscher simply a great open wastewater channel.

Klaipėda is a coastal city with almost all of its territory located on coastal lowland, and the Smeltalė river situated in the Southern part of the city, falling into the Curonian Lagoon within the city area. Regular floodings of the southern city areas due to flash floods in the Smeltalė River and Baltic Sea level fluctuations are the main problem of the Klaipėda city case study area.

The City of Växjö is situated in the southern part of Sweden, surrounded by forests and lakes. As many parts of the central City of Växjö were built upon wet and swampy areas they are vulnerable to floods after heavy rainfall events. One of the most affected parts is the street Linnégatan which is built on a previously existing small stream and which is situated much lower than the surrounding built areas. In past years, rainwater often flooded the street and the nearby buildings’ basements and cellars.