Towards a web tool for assessing the impact of climate change adaptation measures on heat stress at urban site level

Abstract

In view of the increased frequency of heat events and their negative effects, principally in cities, many scholars and practitioners are focusing on ways of adapting to climate change. The urban population and, especially, vulnerable groups, are now being affected to such a degree that adaptation measures are deemed necessary. Clearly, the planning and implementation of such measures are dependent on municipal resources. Tools can greatly assist in the planning of such measures at urban site level. This article provides a systematic review of the tools currently available for planning and implementing climate change adaptation measures in cities. The results offer a comprehensive overview of existing planning tools, which can also serve as a handy look-up document for urban planners searching for such tools. We find that many of these tools require considerable improvement and optimisation. For example, our findings demonstrate that outputs may be overly generalised, often there is no way of entering site-specific information while additional co-benefits (e.g. ecosystem services) are ignored. By analysing selected tools, we pinpoint and discuss requirements for future planning tools. In particular, we present a concept for a tool currently under development which is designed to assist in the planning and implementation of heat adaptation measures at diverse (small) spatial scales. The advantages of this tool are that it can assess the indoor thermal situation in addition to outdoor conditions, thereby providing comprehensive information on the suitability of adaptation measures. Furthermore, decision-making processes could benefit from some estimation of the likely co-benefits (here, ecosystem services) if proposed adaptation measures were implemented.