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Open Cities | Open Data pp 151–175Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Mapping Climate Vulnerability with Open Data: A Dashboard for Place-Based Action

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Abstract

Our understanding of climate change has been influenced by data like few other global phenomena. The scientific data on temperature, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, sea-level rise and global warming forms the evidence base for global climate agreements. Global scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change and the global policies’ emphasis on Open Data to meet climate goals have motivated the world to implement Open Data policies. However, the existing Open Data initiatives for climate action largely focus on continental regions and nation states rather than urban areas. A new paradigm of city-level Open Data initiatives is needed to ensure that societies can develop place-based actions to moderate climate change. This is because global climate change has drastic consequences for cities. In this chapter, we review the relevance of Open Data in urban vulnerability management and empowering cities as ‘centres of action’. We aim to unpack this relationship through the heat vulnerability index platform that we have developed using accessible public data. We use Sydney’s vulnerability to heat waves as a case study to demonstrate the index and its function as a powerful adaptation planning support tool.

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Abbreviations

ABS:

Australian Bureau of Statistics

BoM:

Bureau of Meteorology

GHG:

Greenhouse gas emissions

GSC:

Greater Sydney Commission

IPCC:

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

NSW:

New South Wales

OEH:

Office for Environment and Heritage

OLG:

Office of Local Governments

USA:

United States of America

UNFCCC:

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Joint European Master in Environmental Studies—Cities & Sustainability (JEMES CiSu) programme and the Smart Cities Cluster at the University of New South Wales who supported Carole Bodilis for a mobility internship during the second year of her Master’s degree. The authors would also like to acknowledge the comments from the three anonymous reviewers, which helped to significantly improve the chapter.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Urban Development and Design, Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Scott Hawken

  2. UNSW Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Komali Yenneti

  3. University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Carole Bodilis

Authors
  1. Scott Hawken
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  2. Komali Yenneti
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  3. Carole Bodilis
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Scott Hawken .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Urban Development and Design Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Scott Hawken

  2. City Planning, Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Hoon Han

  3. Urban Science, Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Christopher Pettit

Additional information

Note regarding data references: The editors encourage all authors to deposit their data sets in a data repository or data store—and cite and link to the dataset in your chapter. If your dataset is not currently published, the editors are offering the option to add the dataset(s) to CityData: https://citydata.be.unsw.edu.au . This may assist you if you’d like to publish your data with a digital object identifier—to give it bibliographic identity. You will be referenced when this dataset is used. If you’d like to have your data hosted here, please contact the editors to submit a proposal.

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Hawken, S., Yenneti, K., Bodilis, C. (2020). Mapping Climate Vulnerability with Open Data: A Dashboard for Place-Based Action. In: Hawken, S., Han, H., Pettit, C. (eds) Open Cities | Open Data. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6605-5_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6605-5_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-6605-5

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