UD 11 - Urban Climate Mitigation & Adaptation

What are the differences between mitigation and adaptation?

mitigation:

• reducing emissions

• long-term focus

• global-scale focus

adaptation:

• reducing vulnerability

• short-term focus

• local-scale focus

What 3 forms of obduracy are there?

1. frames

2. embeddedness

3. persistent traditions

Which 3 generations of energy generation have occurred? What spatial dimension is visible?

1. peat

Clear spatial dimension: visible in Green Heart, and regions like Drenthe

2. coal, oil, gas

Spatial dimension nearby cities less visible → only energy facilities

3. Renewables

Clear spatial dimension: NIMBY

The well-established infrastructure network of fossil-based energy carries a risk of ‘lock-in’.

Explain

Lock-in (Unruh, 2000) refers to the situation where a society becomes dependent on an existing technology or system, such as fossil fuels, due to infrastructure, investments, institutions, and habits that are hard to change.

• Even when better alternatives exist (like renewables), the high cost and complexity of shifting away from the established system creates resistance to change, reinforcing the status quo.

explain Engineering versus Evolutionary resilience

Engineering resilience – “Bounce back”

Evolutionary resilience – “Bounce forward”

What are Sponge Cities?

• ‘Nature-based solutions’

• Using ecological principles in water management

Which 2 alternatives does Naess present for a sustainable city?

Compact City

• Multi-functionality

• Densification

Green City

• Self-sufficiency

• Expansion