SILVIA TAVARES

Category: Urbanism

Awareness of urban climate adaptation strategies – an international overview

Awareness of urban climate adaptation strategies – an international overview

I have previously shared here the publication of the first part of a research led by Professor Sanda Lenzholzer and Professor Robert Brown, in which I had the honour of adding a New Zealand perspective.

The second part of this study has recently been published, is open access and available through Science Direct.

 

The paper abstract is below:

Problems caused by urban climate phenomena such as urban heat island intensification, nuisance winds, or the lack of ventilation, are a growing concern with urban population growth and aging infrastructure. While many possible solutions are known, effective adaptation strategies have been insufficiently implemented to ameliorate urban climate problems. Reasons for this ‘implementation gap’ such as the level of awareness about implementable solutions have received little attention in the literature. An important question thus remains unanswered: what do different urban actors (citizens; politicians; urban planners and designers; and urban climate experts) who shape the urban environment and thus its climate, know about urban climate adaptation measures? We conducted a pilot study using semi-structured interviews with specialists in the field of urban sustainability related to urban planning and climate in ten countries worldwide. Interview results indicated that awareness of adaptation measures differs between countries, but even more so between different actor groups. Citizens and politicians are less aware than urban planners or designers and urban climate experts. Awareness raising should involve media campaigns, further education and display of good practice. Politicians should work on better laws and their enforcement and urban climate experts on good knowledge communication.

Suburbanites walk perpendicular. Urbanites walk parallel.

Suburban land is organized by purpose, and suburban experience consequently tends to be selective, single-variable, and destination-centric. One travels to or among destinations, with each answering to one goal. The journey between is generally not designed to have experiential value. This is why, when suburbanites shop at a strip mall, they often walk only between car and front door. If using more than one store, they often return to their car, drive a short distance, and repeat the direct line of engagement to the next destination. Urban experience is continuous, oblique, and incidental. It is all-at-once rather than one-at-a-time. Although one may move through an urban setting with a destination in mind, the journey to it will be rich, varied, and engaging.

Read more…

Cities will endure, but urban design must adapt to coronavirus risks and fears

Public spaces must now meet our need to be ‘together but apart’.
Silvia Tavares, Author provided

 

Silvia Tavares, University of the Sunshine Coast and Nicholas Stevens, University of the Sunshine Coast

The long-term impacts of coronavirus on our cities are difficult to predict, but one thing is certain: cities won’t die. Diseases have been hugely influential in shaping our cities, history shows. Cities represent continuity regardless of crises – they endure, adapt and grow. Read more…