Urban Nature as an Active Means of Adapting Public Spaces to Climate Conditions: Case Studies from Copenhagen and Selected Polish Cities

Abstract Progressive climate change brings many challenges to cities, which, in an effort to meet them, are looking for ways to create a built environment that is resilient and adapted to change. The subject of the paper is the urban nature, which, skillfully used and introduced into public space, becomes an active tool for adapting cities to future climate conditions. The aim of the paper is to identify key solutions to introduce urban nature into public spaces in the context of model strategic planning and urban design undertaken in cities. To this aim, development strategies, with a particular focus on urban nature, developed in Copenhagen over the past few years, were researched. Of those identified, the directions and actions that address public spaces and holistically link the needs of the built and natural environment with the needs of humans were selected. Research leads to a comparison of the model strategies and selected implementations used in Copenhagen, prioritizing the urban nature, with examples of strategic development policies and adaptation projects implemented in the public spaces of selected Polish cities. The result of the research is an assessment of the completeness of climate change adaptation measures undertaken in Poland, using the potential of urban nature in public spaces and recommendations for updating planning and strategic documents based on Copenhagen’s model solutions.