Integrating solutions to adapt cities for climate change

Journal article

Record climate extremes are reducing urban liveability, compounding inequality, and threatening infrastructure. Adaptation measures that integrate technological, nature-based, and social solutions can provide multiple co-benefits to address complex socioecological issues in cities while increasing resilience to potential impacts. However, there remain many challenges to developing and implementing integrated solutions.

In this Viewpoint for Lancet Planet Health, we consider the value of integrating across the three solution sets, the challenges and potential enablers for integrating solution sets, and present examples of challenges and adopted solutions in three cities with different urban contexts and climates (Freiburg, Germany; Durban, South Africa; and Singapore).

We conclude with a discussion of research directions and provide a road map to identify the actions that enable successful implementation of integrated climate solutions. We highlight the need for more systematic research that targets enabling environments for integration; achieving integrated solutions in different contexts to avoid maladaptation; simultaneously improving liveability, sustainability, and equality; and replicating via transfer and scale-up of local solutions. Cities in systematically disadvantaged countries (sometimes referred to as the Global South) are central to future urban development and must be prioritised. Helping decision makers and communities understand the potential opportunities associated with integrated solutions for climate change will encourage urgent and deliberate strides towards adapting cities to the dynamic climate realit

Susan Parnell
Brenda B Lin
Alessandro Ossola
Marina Alberti
Erik Andersson
Xuemei Bai
Cynnamon Dobbs
Thomas Elmqvist,
Karl L Evans
Niki Frantzeskaki
Richard A Fuller
Kevin J Gaston
Dagmar Haase
Chi Yung Jim
Cecil Konijnendijk
Harini Nagendra
Jari Niemelä
Simon McPhearson
William R Moomaw
Diane Pataki
William J Ripple
Puay Yok Tan
Volume 5, July 2021
Theme
Health and Wellbeing
Sustainable Cities