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This essay addresses the long-term effectiveness of urban climate change adaptation approaches, based, inter alia, on work in the C40 city network. We argue that in most cities, the dominant framing of climate risk management almost exclusively focuses on short-term incrementalities and preventive solutions directly tackling hazards, vulnerability, and exposure. This approach has serious flaws, leading to missed opportunities for longer-term sustainable urban development. Until very recently, climate science usually provided only a marginal input to long-term urban planning and design. We argue that any analysis of urban climate risk management and the associated climate services should be broadened beyond solely climate focusing on impacts. In this context, the development of positive urban visions is a key gap for both research and practice. A change is required from negatively addressing risks to positively pursuing a positive vision of attractive, resilient, and sustainable cities. The emphasis on short-term incremental solutions should shift towards long-term transformation. This embodies a paradigm shift from “function follows system” to “system follows function”. For many cities, this also means a change in procedural practice from siloed top-down to integrated, participatory urban transformation. Our main argument in this paper is that simple, longer-term sustainable urban transformation would not only reduce climate risks but also enhance overall environmental quality, economic opportunities, and social wellbeing.

Voor je ligt een toekomstbeeld voor de Groene Metropoolregio Arnhem-Nijmegen. In dit verhaal laten we je zien hoe we over honderd jaar zouden kunnen leven in deze regio. Toegegeven, de 22e eeuw klinkt nog ver weg. En toch maken we nu al dagelijks keuzes waarmee we die verre toekomst beïnvloeden.Deze toekomstvisie kun je zien als een stip op de horizon, die kan helpen om vandaag betere plannen te maken. De daadwerkelijke toekomst laat zich moeilijk voorspellen. Want het klimaat verandert, maar hoe snel precies? En welke maatschappelijke, technische en geopolitieke ontwikkelingen staan ons te wachten? Hoewel we zulke vragen niet met zekerheid kunnen beantwoorden, weten we één ding wél: de besluiten die we vandaag en morgen nemen, bepalen mede de kansen die we straks hebben. Dat zijn dus besluiten waar we goed over na moeten denken. Sterker nog, het is belangrijk om er nu al over in gesprek te gaan, zodat we onze gedachten erover kunnen vormen, en deze inhoud kunnen meewegen in de investeringen die we doen.Waar moeten we allemaal rekening mee houden, als we nadenken over de Groene Metropoolregio van de toekomst? Op de landkaart en in de teksten stippen we de belangrijkste thema’s aan die spelen in de regio, nu én in het jaar 2120. Deze thema’s – we noemen ze ‘perspectieven’ – vind je op de volgende bladzijden. Vervolgens lichten we toe hoe we tot dit verhaal gekomen zijn.Deze toekomstvisie is gemaakt door stedenbouwkundigen, landschapsarchitecten en -ontwerpers en andere deskundigen, gebaseerd op wetenschappelijke inzichten, onder verantwoordelijkheid van Wageningen University & Research. Inhoudelijk borduren we voort op de WUR-toekomstvisie Nederland in 2120. Dat betekent dat natuurlijke processen een hoofdrol spelen, en dat de kenmerken en draagkracht van het landschap het vertrekpunt vormen.Deze visie is geen blauwdruk: de keuzes en conclusies zijn niet in beton gegoten. Integendeel, dit verhaal is juist bedoeld om het gesprek over de toekomst en de keuzes van vanda

Ongeveer een jaar geleden verscheen de kamerbrief Water en Bodem Sturend met 33 structurerende keuzes voor de ruimtelijke ordening. Uitgangspunten, ambities, doelen en maatregelen om anders met ons water- en bodem systeem om te gaan. Aan de slag! Maar hoe brengen we water en bodem sturend nu in de praktijk met de organisaties en professionals die gewend waren zelf water en bodem te sturen? Het zit immers diep in de cultuur geworteld in ons land, waar we al eeuwen ingrijpen in ons water- en bodemsysteem om het land voor onze eigen behoeften naar onze handen zetten. Wat betekent het voor ons als we water en bodem laten bepalen waar en hoe ruimtelijke ordening in de toekomst plaatsvindt? Met daarbij de fundamentele vraag wat we moeten doen (of laten) om water en bodem sturend te kunnen laten zijn., ‘Water and soil as guiding principle’ implies that spatial planning should be based on the characteristics and carrying capacity of the natural system. But how to concretize that? Here, we illustrate the value of a visioning process, using a case study of the Green Metropolitan Region Arnhem-Nijmegen (GMR). Our visioning process of GMR consisted of three steps. First, we studied trends and projections and we performed a landscape analysis to characterize the natural system of the region. Second, a series of interdisciplinary design workshops followed to iteratively design a vision for the year 2120. Finally, discussion points were formulated that pinpoint key spatial choices in the region that we need to confer with each other. The findings offer, so to speak, a framework for area processes in GMR. They also highlight the opportunities and challenges that we will encounter when putting the natural system at the basis of spatial planning.

De manier waarop we vandaag omgaan met waterbeheer en ruimtelijke ordening, loopt tegen grenzen aan. De gevolgen van klimaatverandering worden zichtbaarder: nu al krijgen we vaker te maken met zowel wateroverlast als droogte. Daarnaast is de vraag hoe we Nederland in de toekomst van voldoende drinkwater blijven voorzien. Dat terwijl het klimaat komende jaren nog verder gaat veranderen. Ons watersysteem kan de gevolgen van klimaatverandering niet goed opvangen. Er is dus maar één oplossing: we zullen anders om moeten gaan met ons water en land. Klimaatverandering vraagt om een ruimtelijke inrichting die is afgestemd op water, bodem en ondergrond. Alleen dat geeft ons de ruimte en flexibiliteit die we nodig hebben om extremen op te vangen.Gelukkig is deze beweging al deels in gang gezet. Onlangs bepaalde het kabinet dat bodem en water voortaan 'sturend' moeten zijn bij ruimtelijke keuzes. Dat wil zeggen dat de natuur en natuurlijke processen een hoofdrol gaan spelen bij ruimtelijke keuzes. Ofwel: de draagkracht en kenmerken van het natuurlijk systeem staan aan de basis van beleidsplannen en beslissingen. Maar hoe geef je daar als beleidsmaker handen en voeten aan?

Normative scenarios for long-term (e.g., 100 years) landscape development can be very inspiring to imagine outside the box landscape futures, without being obliged to define concrete policy objectives for the shorter term. However, it remains challenging to translate such long-term visions into clear transition pathways. We draw upon a landscape-based design approach to local spatial planning to foster a transition to a well-functioning landscape, resilient to various external pressures. Inspired by a national visioning exercise for the Netherlands in 2120, two local case studies at municipal level in the Netherlands are analysed, aiming to identify in what ways the setup of a regional landscape-based design study using future visions can optimise the spatial planning process. Therefore, this comparative case study analysed the cases on the landscape-based approach, the design process, and the future visions formulated. The comparison shows that fostering abiotic differences safeguards sustainable and resilient landscapes; moreover, co-creation relying on representative local actors appears fundamental for shared solutions, while a landscape-based approach guarantees transitions to adaptive and biodiverse landscapes. We conclude that a shared long-term future landscape vision is a crucial source of inspiration to solve today’s spatial planning problems. The constellation of the stakeholder group involved and the methodological setup of a visioning process are determinative for the way a long-term vision is suited to informing spatial planning for a sustainable future.

Nature-based solutions are gaining importance within the notion of urban sustainability problems and associated global goals. This paper argues that nature-based solutions could guide climate adaptation planning, but it would need to be scaled-up across the globe to have an effective impact on climate adaptation. Literature poses various proposals of how to include nature-based solutions to guide adaptation planning, but practical examples and evidence of such are more limited. This paper addresses this lack by providing examples of two case studies, one in the Netherlands (Amersfoort) and one in South Africa (Lephalale). These two case studies were purposefully selected based on the nature-based approaches they employed in response to climate change challenges. The cases were accordingly considered in terms of their socio-ecological and environmental context, the scale of implementation of the nature-based solutions, the flexibility of these responses employed, and the overall benefits provided through the nature-based approaches. A comparative analysis was conducted between the two cases and highlighted that nature-based approaches could not be limited to a singular ad-hoc approach, but should rather be scaled up and more comprehensive, in order to align with the objectives of climate adaptation planning. The cases evidenced how the broader environment could benefit when nature-based solutions are scaled up to guide climate adaptation.

In het programma Klimaat en Energie in de Regio Noordoost Brabant is een samenwerking opgezet met overheden, maatschappelijke partijen en onderwijsinstellingen om klimaatadaptatie beleidsmatig en procesmatig te versnellen. Onderdeel van dit programma is een uitwerking van de provinciale Omgevingsvisie Brabant (2019) voor het thema beeklandschappen. Regio Noordoost Brabant heeft Wageningen University & Research benaderd om na analogie van het toekomstperspectief Nederland 2120 (WUR, 2019) een ruimtelijk beeld te schetsen van een klimaatbestendig beek(dal)landschap Noordoost Brabant (NOB) anno 2050. Dit beeld kan gebruikt worden om een dialoog op te starten over de gemeentelijke omgevingsvisies. Ter voorbereiding op het samenstellen van de verhaallijnen en het schetsen van de bijbehorende beelden is de regio met haar karakteristieke beeksystemen: de Aa, Raam en Dommel, en bijbehorende beek(dal)landschappen gekenschetst.

Climate risk management evolves rapidly from one additional challenge for urban planning into a radical driver of urban development. In addition to fundamental changes in urban planning to increase long-term resilience, the creation of new opportunities for sustainable transformation is imperative. While urban planners increasingly add climate risks to their menu, implementation of effective action is lagging. To reduce urban infrastructure’s vulnerability to heat and flooding, cities often rely on short-term incremental adjustments rather than considering longer-term transformative solutions. The transdisciplinary co-development of inspiring urban visions with local stakeholders over timescales of decades or more, can provide an appealing prospect of the city we desire—a city that is attractive to live and work in, and simultaneously resilient to climate hazards. Taking an historic perspective, we argue that re-imagining historical urban planning concepts, such as the late 19th-century garden city until early 21st century urban greening through nature-based solutions, is a pertinent example of how climate risk management can be combined with a wide-range of socio-economic and environmental goals. Climate knowledge has expanded rapidly over the last decades. However, climate experts mainly focus on the refinement of and access to observations and model results, rather than on translating their knowledge effectively to meet today’s urban planning needs. In this commentary we discuss how the two associated areas (urban planning and climate expertise) should be more fully integrated to address today’s long-term challenges effectively.

Een watersysteem in een stroomgebied moet berekend zijn op de mogelijkheid dat er over twee weken een langdurige droogte kan uitbreken, of een periode met maandenlange regenval. Daarbij moet een geplande of gewenste vorm van landgebruik mogelijk blijven. De kosten mogen niet te hoog zijn. Een grondige herijking van onze watersystemen is nodig.

Climate change is an internationally recognised phenomenon generally held accountable for the increasing magnitude of extremes in both climatic events and temperature. With increasing urbanization and the concentration of socio-economic activities in urban areas, the challenge to contend with climate change is particularly pertinent in cities. In response to climate-change impacts, a range of climate-adaptation strategies have been developed to make cities increasingly ‘climate proof’. A qualitative research approach is employed to review climate change, its impacts and some adaptation strategies, focusing on ecosystem-based adaptation strategies from Belgium and The Netherlands and Water-Sensitive Urban Design approaches developed in Australia. The article engages a case study of Essenvelt, Middelburg, The Netherlands, where unanticipated warmer night-time temperatures are a primary concern, related to natural variability, the urban heat island effect and climate change. The article proposes certain adaptation measures for Essenvelt, based on the adaptation strategies reviewed.

Urban public open spaces are an important part of the urban environment, creating the framework for public life. The transformation of open space into successful public places is crucial in this regard. In the context of target-driven performance it is essential to identify the value of successful public open places, along with characteristics that define them. This research evaluated three case studies in Belgium (Namur, Wavre and La Louviere) which successfully transformed spaces into lively public open places. The transformation was captured by means of before-and-after imagery and analyses, and evaluated in terms of space-usage prior to, and after redesign, along with the experience and added value that the redesign brought to the area

Urban public open spaces are an important part of the urban environment, creating the framework for public life. The transformation of open space into successful public places is crucial in this regard. In the context of target-driven performance it is essential to identify the value of successful public open places, along with characteristics that define them. This research evaluated three case studies in Belgium (Namur, Wavre and La Louviere) which successfully transformed spaces into lively public open places. The transformation was captured by means of before-and-after imagery and analyses, and evaluated in terms of space-usage prior to, and after redesign, along with the experience and added value that the redesign brought to the area.

What do a nineteenth century fort, a city centre, an agricultural area, a neighbourhood park and a river valley have in common? All these landscapes were part of the VALUE+ project and the subject of five international workshops involving students of Garden and Landscape Design of VHL University of Applied Sciences. The aim of the VALUE+ project was to improve green infrastructure and urban spaces by integrating bottom-up and top-down approaches. In the investment sites, excellent landscape design was combined with effective community engagement (VALUE+). Cities in North West Europe are facing similar issues and transnational cooperation ensures that best practises are shared and countries can learn from each other’s innovative approaches. The international design charrette was one of these innovations and turned out to be a successful tool for integrating a strategic approach with more community involvement. A charrette is an intensive multi-day design or planning workshop with clients, stakeholders, designers and other professionals. The design charrette allows a diverse group of people to quickly generate design solutions that integrate a diversity of interests.

The current sustainability-driven urban reality is complex. Planning for such a multidimensional environment is even more complex. Alternatives to traditional planning approaches are sought in an attempt to create liveable and lively urban public spaces. The lively planning approach is based on the principles of place-making, planning scales and within various planning dimensions, with the aim to design successful public spaces. This paper evaluates the role that lively planning integrated approach can play in creating sustainable, liveable and lively public spaces, by determining the scale of implementation and identifying the dimensions of lively planning that could be incorporated in public space design and planning. The scale and dimensions of the lively planning integrative approach are linked to each another, and examples of elements to be incorporated in the design of a public space are included as a conclusion of this research