Continued urban growth, densification and the constantly increasing number of days with excessive heat provide challenging conditions for urban green infrastructure (UGI) and intensify the Urban Heat Island effect (UHI). Therefore, new approaches are required to improve the urban ecological function of buildings and to provide high-quality (urban) open spaces that affect the meso- and microclimate in a positive way. Based on the research project “Green Resilient City”, this paper shows how climate simulations can support landscape and urban planning and development. A proof of concept for a multiscale tool set for the evaluation, regulation, and optimization of green and climate-sensitive urban planning projects is the overall aim. The tool-set combines a Green and Open Space Factor, as an urban planning index and controlling instrument, as well as three climate simulation models on different scales in order to harmonize them: the GREENPASS® as an optimization instrument on parcel and neighborhood level, MUKLIMO_3 on neighborhood and city level and Cosmo-CLM as evaluation tools on mesoclimatic and regional level. Several advantages arise from the unprecedented combination of these four instruments: It transfers the use of climate models to the planning process, enables the testing and optimization of different UGIs with a focus on how they can influence the climatic performance of the proposed design of an urban development or retrofit project and serves as a scientific basis for urban planning decisions on a political level.
Adapting spatial development to the challenges of climate change is a major task facing cities. In particular, urban heat islands caused by increasing average temperatures and urban growth are a challenge for cities. The use of climate simulations to assess current and future urban heat stress is a helpful approach for supporting this transition. In particular, green and blue infrastructure helps to reduce the urban heat island effect. These cooling effects can be analysed using simulations. However, a central challenge is that urban adaptation to heat needs to be implemented consistently at different planning levels. A second major challenge in adaption is identifying the amount of urban green infrastructure required in order to achieve a specific cooling benefit and establishing this by means of planning instruments. This article presents two case studies in the city of Vienna to demonstrate how climate simulation tools can be used across different planning levels if they are standardized. When combined with a green and open space factor as a steering instrument, the necessary amount of greening for subsequent planning processes can be secured. The result is a multi-scale toolset consisting of three climate simulation models and a green and open space factor, coordinated, and standardised for use at different levels of planning.
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