Climate adaptation and urban resilience strategies

Resilience to the impacts of climate change is a key issue facing German towns and cities in future. Extreme events such as prolonged heatwaves, intense rainfall and flooding already point to the need for action to be taken now. Based on climate projections, these events are only going to increase. Average temperatures are steadily rising and the precipitation regime is changing. Indirect climate impacts also need to be dealt with, such as modified trade flows and value-added chains or new migration flows.

Urban resilience also encompasses other stress and risk factors such as a change to economic structures and sectors, social polarisation and demographic change. The concept of resilience needs to be honed and explained in practical terms for urban development:

• What is associated with the central idea of a resilient city beyond climate adaptation?
• How can this be implemented in practice?