Adapting Cities to Climate Change: Scenarios for Urban Neighbourhoods in the City of Essen

Abstract

Big agglomerations are deeply affected by the impacts of climate change particularly in dense areas. Currently, the climate of these areas is affected by urban structures. Consequently, the whole Ruhr region has to deal with climate adaptation. Most cities in the Ruhr region have some distinctive features that differentiate the urban climate from the climate of its surroundings. For example, there are large industrial brownfields in Essen that neighbour very dense inner city areas, with a high potential for developing urban heat islands. The problems of the urban climate will amplify with ongoing climate change and will lead to various problems and impacts on the city and its population. As a result, the city of Essen adopted the pilot project “City Faces Climate Change – Integrated Strategies for Essen” in the ExWoSt-Program “Urban Strategies for Climate Change – Municipal Strategies and Potentials” funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transportation, Building and Urban Development. While this project is still in progress, nearly half of the duration of the project is now over. In turn, this paper will present only the initial results of this project.