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Adapting Infrastructure to Climate Change: Advancing Decision-Making Under Conditions of Uncertainty (Routledge Advances in Climate Change Research)
by Todd SchenkMany of the challenges that decision-makers grapple with in relation to climate change are governance related. Planning and decision-making is evolving in ambiguous institutional environments, in which many key issues remain unresolved, including relationships between different actors; funding arrangements; and the sources and procedures for vetting data. These issues are particularly acute at this juncture, as climate adaptation moves from broad planning processes to the management of infrastructure systems. Concrete decisions must be made. Adapting Infrastructure to Climate Change draws on case studies of three coastal cities situated within very different governance regimes: neo-corporatist Rotterdam, neo-pluralist Boston and semi-authoritarian Singapore. The book examines how infrastructure managers and other stakeholders grappling with complex and uncertain climate risks are likely to make project-level decisions in practice, and how more effective decision-making can be supported. The differences across governance regimes are currently unaccounted for in adaptation planning, but are crucial as best practices are devised. These lessons are also applicable to infrastructure planning and decision-making in other contexts. This book will be of great interest to scholars of climate change and environmental policy and governance, particularly in the context of infrastructure management.
Adapting to Climate Change in Agriculture-Theories and Practices: Approaches for Adapting to Climate Change in Agriculture in India
by Syed Sheraz Mahdi Rajbir Singh Bhagyashree DhekaleThis book brings together a series of chapters that provides updated information on adaptation practices against climate change in agriculture and livestock. Information on some new aspects like conservation of carnivorous plants, climate-smart millets production, advances in genomic interventions for climate resilient crops, perceptions on disease and pests under changing climate, role of neglected crops in climate resilient agriculture, nanotechnology in sustainable agriculture, use of crop wild relatives for developing climate resilient crops have been discussed. It also presents detailed information carbon sequestration practices and green consumption behaviour for sustainable development. The last chapter of book mentions about an innovative agronomic technique under rainfed conditions for sustainable yield advantage in soybean crop.
Adapting to Climate Change: 2.0 Enterprise Risk Management (Doshorts Ser.)
by Mark Trexler Laura KosloffMost companies do not yet recognize what it means to adapt to future climate change, and do not yet see it as a business priority. Adapting to Climate Change tackles two key questions facing decision makers: 1) Is adaptation worth it to me? and 2) If it is worth it, can I really tackle it? If a company has reason to worry about the potential impacts of weather on its operations and supply chains, it probably has cause to worry about climate change. However, "adapting to the weather" is not the same as incorporating climate change adaptation into corporate planning. In the former a company is managing conditions they are already experiencing. The latter involves preparing for forecasted impacts of climate change. Focusing on today’s weather and not tomorrow’s climate leaves a lot of risk on the table, especially if the climate continues to change faster than many climate models have projected. The uncertainties associated with forecasting climate change on a timeframe and at a scale that is relevant to corporate decision making can appear daunting. It is not necessary, however, to have perfect information to advance corporate preparedness for and resilience to climate change. Companies can improve their ability to make robust decisions under conditions of uncertainty without perfect information. A Bayesian approach to reducing uncertainty over time can cost-effectively support companies in understanding and managing many potential climate risks and can avoid the need to depend on future predictions. Instead, initial effort can focus on where a company will have confidence in its analysis and the ability to influence its level of risk, namely in assessing its exposure and vulnerability to climate hazards. As the hazards themselves become more clear, risk management strategies can be quickly adapted.
Adapting to Climate Change: An Assessment of Vulnerability and Risks to Human Security in the Western Mediterranean Basin (SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science)
by Katriona Mcglade Dania Abdul Malak Diana Pascual Eduard PlaThis book examines the water-related impacts of climate change in the UNESCO Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve of the Mediterranean (IBRM) straddling Spain and Morocco. This is the first in-depth publication on a fascinating transboundary case study; while climate change effects are rather homogenous across the IBRM, differing socio-economic contexts, land-use patterns and policy frameworks in Spain and Morocco mean considerable variations in vulnerability and consequences for human security. The authors have produced a novel and integrated vulnerability assessment that combines hydro-ecological, socio-economic and policy analyses. The interdisciplinary approach and insights contained in this volume will appeal both to those interested in the integration of natural and social sciences as well as those working on water and climate change from academic, practical or policy-oriented perspectives.
Adapting to Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Hazards Planning (Environmental Hazards)
by Bruce C. Glavovic Gavin P. SmithThis book identifies lessons learned from natural hazard experiences to help communities plan for and adapt to climate change. Written by leading experts, the case studies examine diverse experiences, from severe storms to sea-level related hazards, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, floods, earthquakes and tsunami, in North America, Europe, Australasia, Asia, Africa and Small Island Developing States. The lessons are grouped according to four imperatives: (i) Develop collaborative governance networks; (ii) build adaptive capabilities; (iii) invest in pre-event planning; and (iv) the moral imperative to undertake adaptive actions that advance resilience and sustainability. "A theoretically rich and empirically grounded analysis of the interface between disaster risk management and climate change adaptation, comprehensive yet accessible, and very timely. " Mark Pelling, Department of Geography, King's College London, UK. "This book represents a major contribution to the understanding of natural hazards planning as an urgent first step for reducing disaster risk and adapting to climate change to ensure sustainable and equitable development. " Sálvano Briceño, Vice-Chair, Science Committee, Integrated Research on Disaster Risk IRDR, an ICSU/ISSC/ISDR programme. Former Director International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, UNISDR. "What a welcome addition to the young literature on climate adaptation and hazard mitigation! Bruc e Glavovic and Gavin Smith each bring to the editing task a rare blend of solid scholarly attainment and on-the-ground experience that shines through in this extensively-documented synthesis of theoretical ideas from the realms of climate and hazards and their validation in a rich set of diverse case studies pulled in from around the world. This book should remain a classic for many years. " William H. Hooke, American Meteorological Society.
Adapting to Climate Change: Markets and the Management of an Uncertain Future
by Matthew E. KahnA revelatory study of how climate change will affect individual economic decisions, and the broad impact of those choicesSelected by Publishers Weekly as one of its Top Ten books in Business and Economics for Spring 2021 It is all but certain that the next century will be hotter than any we&’ve experienced before. Even if we get serious about fighting climate change, it&’s clear that we will need to adapt to the changes already underway in our environment. This book considers how individual economic choices in response to climate change will transform the larger economy. Using the tools of microeconomics, Matthew E. Kahn explores how decisions about where we live, how our food is grown, and where new business ventures choose to locate are impacted by climate change. Kahn suggests new ways that big data can be deployed to ease energy or water shortages to aid agricultural operations and proposes informed policy changes related to public infrastructure, disaster relief, and real estate to nudge land use, transportation options, and business development in the right direction.
Adapting to Climate Uncertainty in African Agriculture: Narratives and knowledge politics (Pathways to Sustainability)
by Stephen WhitfieldFuture climatic and agro-ecological changes in Africa are uncertain and associated with high degrees of spatial and temporal variability and this change is differently simulated within divergent climate-crop models and in controlled crop breeding stations. Furthermore, uncertainty emerges in local contexts, not just in response to climatic systems, but to social, economic, and political systems, and often with implications for the appropriateness and adoption of technologies or the success of alternative cropping systems. This book examines the challenges of adaptation in smallholder farming in Africa, analysing the social, economic, political and climatic uncertainties that impact on agriculture in the region and the range of solutions proposed. Drawing on case studies of genetically modified crops, conservation agriculture, and other 'climate smart' solutions in eastern and southern Africa, the book identifies how uncertainties are framed 'from above' as well experienced 'from below', by farmers themselves. It provides a compelling insight into why ideas about adaptation emerge, from whom, and with what implications. This book offers a unique perspective and will be highly relevant to students of climate change adaptation, food security and poverty alleviation, as well as policy-makers and field practitioners in international development and agronomy.
Adapting to an Uncertain Climate: Lessons From Practice
by Tiago Capela Lourenço Ana Rovisco Annemarie Groot Carin Nilsson Hans-Martin Füssel Leendert Bree Roger B. StreetClimate change highlights the challenges for long-term policy making in the face of persistent and irreducible levels of uncertainties. It calls for the development of flexible approaches, innovative governance and other elements that contribute to effective and adaptive decision-making. Exploring these new approaches is also a challenge for those involved in climate research and development of adaptation policy. The book provides a dozen real-life examples of adaptation decision making in the form of case studies: · Water supply management in Portugal, England and Wales and Hungary · Flooding, including flood risk in Ireland, coastal flooding and erosion in Southwest France, and flood management in Australia's Hutt River region · Transport and utilities, including the Austrian Federal railway system, public transit in Dresden, and Québec hydro-electric power · Report examining communication of large numbers of climate scenarios in Dutch climate adaptation workshops.
Adapting to the Land: A History of Agriculture in Colorado
by John F. FreemanAdapting to the Land examines the extent to which Colorado agriculturists adapted to or stretched beyond the limits of land and water. Historian John F. Freeman and horticultural scientist Mark E. Uchanski document the state’s agricultural history and provide context for the shift away from traditional forms of agriculture to the use of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides—and, most recently, to more values-driven practices to support the burgeoning popularity of natural and organic foods. This shift has resulted in the establishment of the global organic food processing and distribution industry, which has roots in Colorado. Ancestral Puebloans farmed and grazed within the limits of nature. Early settlers adjusted their cultivation methods through trial and error, while later agriculturists relied on research and technical advice from the Colorado Agricultural College. As part of wartime mobilization, the federal government prompted farmers to efficiently increase yields. To meet the demand for food and fiber scientific and technical innovations led to the development of new plant cultivars and livestock breeds, advances in mechanization, and widespread use of synthetic amendments. Increasing concern over soil fertility and the loss of irrigation water to urbanization contributed to more changes. Despite, or perhaps because of, what we see today along the Front Range, Colorado may still have a chance to slow or even reverse its seemingly unrestrained growth, creating a more vibrant, earth-friendly society in which agriculture plays an increasingly significant part. Scientific discoveries and innovations in regenerative cultivation are clearing the path to a more sustainable future. Adapting to the Land adds an ecological and horticultural perspective to historical interpretations of recurring agricultural issues in the state and tracks the concept of stewardship, suggesting that spiritual beliefs continue to contribute to debates over acceptable agricultural practices and the effects of urbanization upon the land. This book will be a key resource for students, scholars, and general readers interested in agricultural and Colorado history, sustainability, and rural sociology.
Adaptive Agricultural Practices: Building Resilience in a Changing Climate (SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science)
by Pradeep Kumar Dubey Gopal Shankar Singh Purushothaman Chirakkuzhyil AbhilashThis brief explores several adaptive agricultural practices from around the world to fulfill current and future agricultural demands for food security due to the challenges posed by climate change and growing global population. Readers will discover how farmers adapt to environmental changes by adopting various agronomic practices at crop, farm and landscape levels. Particular attention is given to systemic and transformational adaptation strategies employed by farmers such as mulching, organic farming and crop diversification. This is a highly informative and carefully presented book that provides insights on how crops can build up resilience against periods of drought, high salinity, disasters such as floods, and diseases. The policy implications and future prospects of these adaptation strategies are also addressed. Environmental and plant scientists, agronomists and researchers in climate sciences will find this book interesting.
Adaptive Analysis of Damage and Fracture in Rock with Multiphysical Fields Coupling
by Yongliang WangThis book mainly focuses on the adaptive analysis of damage and fracture in rock, taking into account multiphysical fields coupling (thermal, hydro, mechanical, and chemical fields). This type of coupling is a crucial aspect in practical engineering for e.g. coal mining, oil and gas exploration, and civil engineering. However, understanding the influencing mechanisms and preventing the disasters resulting from damage and fracture evolution in rocks require high-precision and reliable solutions. This book proposes adaptive numerical algorithms and simulation analysis methods that offer significant advantages in terms of accuracy and reliability. It helps readers understand these innovative methods quickly and easily. The content consists of: (1) a finite element algorithm for modeling the continuum damage evolution in rocks, (2) adaptive finite element analysis for continuum damage evolution and determining the wellbore stability of transversely isotropic rock, (3) an adaptive finite element algorithm for damage detection in non-uniform Euler–Bernoulli beams with multiple cracks, using natural frequencies, (4) adaptive finite element–discrete element analysis for determining multistage hydrofracturing in naturally fractured reservoirs, (5) adaptive finite element–discrete element analysis for multistage supercritical CO2 fracturing and microseismic modeling, and (6) an adaptive finite element–discrete element–finite volume algorithm for 3D multiscale propagation of hydraulic fracture networks, taking into account hydro-mechanical coupling. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable reference guide for researchers, postgraduates and undergraduates majoring in engineering mechanics, mining engineering, geotechnical engineering, and geological engineering.
Adaptive Approach to Petroleum Reservoir Simulation (Advances in Oil and Gas Exploration & Production)
by Stanislav Ursegov Armen ZakharianThis book presents unique features of the adaptive modeling approach based on new machine learning algorithms for petroleum exploration, development, and production. The adaptive approach helps simulation engineers and geoscientists to create adequate geological and hydrodynamic models. This approach is proven to be a real alternative to traditional techniques, such as deterministic modeling. Currently, machine-learning algorithms grow in popularity because they provide consistency, predictiveness, and convenience. The primary purpose of this book is to describe the theoretical state of the adaptive approach and show some examples of its implementation in simulation and forecasting different reservoir processes.
Adaptive Capacity and Environmental Governance (Springer Series on Environmental Management)
by Derek Armitage Ryan PlummerRapid environmental change calls for individuals and societies with an ability to transform our interactions with each other and the ecosystems upon which we depend. Adaptive capacity - the ability of a social-ecological system (or the components of that system) to be robust to disturbances and capable of responding to changes - is increasingly recognized as a critical attribute of multi-level environmental governance. This unique volume offers the first interdisciplinary and integrative perspective on an emerging area of applied scholarship, with contributions from internationally recognized researchers and practitioners. It demonstrates how adaptive capacity makes environmental governance possible in complex social-ecological systems. Cutting-edge theoretical developments are explored and empirical case studies offered from a wide range of geographic settings and natural resource contexts, such as water, climate, fisheries and forestry. * Of interest to researchers, policymakers and resource managers seeking to navigate and understand social-ecological change in diverse geographic settings and resource contexts
Adaptive Collaborative Management in Forest Landscapes: Villagers, Bureaucrats and Civil Society (The Earthscan Forest Library)
by Carol J. Pierce Colfer, Ravi Prabhu, and Anne M. LarsonThis book examines the value of Adaptive Collaborative Management for facilitating learning and collaboration with local communities and beyond, utilising detailed studies of forest landscapes and communities. Many forest management proposals are based on top-down strategies, such as the Million Tree Initiatives, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) and REDD+, often neglecting local communities. In the context of the climate crisis, it is imperative that local peoples and communities are an integral part of all decisions relating to resource management. Rather than being seen as beneficiaries or people to be safeguarded, they should be seen as full partners, and Adaptive Collaborative Management is an approach which priorities the rights and roles of communities alongside the need to address the environmental crisis. The volume presents detailed case studies and real life examples from across the globe, promoting and prioritizing the voices of women and scholars and practitioners from the Global South who are often under-represented. Providing concrete examples of ways that a bottom-up approach can function to enhance development sustainably, via its practitioners and far beyond the locale in which they initially worked, this volume demonstrates the lasting utility of approaches like Adaptive Collaborative Management that emphasize local control, inclusiveness and local creativity in management. This book will be of great interest to students, scholars and practitioners working in the fields of conservation, forest management, community development and natural resource management and development studies more broadly.
Adaptive Fisheries Governance in Changing Coastal Regions in Japan (International Perspectives in Geography #13)
by Akiko Ikeguchi Takafumi Yokoyama Seishiro SakitaJapan’s fisheries sector is undergoing a major restructuring. The coastal ecological change and natural disasters such as tsunami demand that communities transform or organize resource governance anew. Under the national policy of decentralization to cope with the aging and declining population, the availability of local infrastructure, both physical and social, plays a significant role in the adaptive capacity of the community. This book presents the historical and spatial dynamics of coastal fisheries resource governance in response to different environmental changes, its socio-political context, and challenges raised by academicians. The reader will find the national trends and geographical patterns of the administrative restructuring in the communities and fisheries cooperatives from abundant maps and figures, as well as a rich description of adaptive governance in the scale of region and community by ecological-historical approaches. Comparative analysis of the communities provides a practical framework to understand a variety of local resources in Japan’s coastal regions, which will serve as a guide to the development of alternative adaptive governance in community-based small-scale fisheries in the world.
Adaptive Governance and Water Conflict: New Institutions for Collaborative Planning
by John T. Scholz Bruce StiftelWater policy seems in perpetual crisis. Increasingly, conflicts extend beyond the statutory authority, competence, geographical jurisdictions, and political constituencies of highly specialized governing authorities. While other books address specific policy approaches or the application of adaptive management strategies to specific problems, this is the first book to focus more broadly on adaptive governance, or the evolution of new institutions that attempt to resolve conflicts among competing authorities. Adaptive Governance and Water Conflict investigates new types of water conflicts among users in the seemingly water-rich Eastern United States. Eight case studies of water quality, water quantity, and habitat preservation or restoration in Florida were chosen to span the range of conflicts crossing fragmented regulatory boundaries. Each begins with a history of the conflict and then focuses on the innovative institutional arrangements - some successful, some not - that evolved to grapple with the resulting challenges. In the chapters that follow, scholars and practitioners in urban planning, political science, engineering, law, policy, administration, and geology offer different theoretical and experience-based perspectives on the cases. Together, they discuss five challenges that new institutions must overcome to develop sustainable solutions for water users: Who is to be involved in the policy process? How are they to interact? How is science to be used? How are users and the public to be made aware? How can solutions be made efficient and equitable? In its diverse perspectives and unique combination of theory, application, and analysis, Adaptive Governance and Water Conflict will be a valuable book for water professionals, policy scientists, students, and scholars in natural resource planning and management.
Adaptive Governance in Carbon Farming Policies
by Nooshin TorabiThis book discusses a variety of different perspectives involved in biodiversity management and bio-sequestration projects in Australia, working towards achieving adaptive governance in carbon farming. It not only examines landholders’ motivation but also the challenges of integrating biodiverse forests into the agricultural landscape. Drawing on the contrast between science and policy stakeholders’ views on carbon farming and the practical challenges of achieving adaptive governance, the book discusses the significant gap between theory and practice encountered in this field of study. The book suggests ways of improving the decision-making capacity of government officials and policymakers involved in managing carbon and biodiversity markets, as well as introducing measures to promote adaptive governance by engaging landholders in more effective land conservation. Climate change is a pressing issue on the global political agenda, and this book makes an important contribution to the ongoing debate. This book will be an invaluable reference for practitioners, policymakers and researchers interested in alternative forms of governance in natural resource management.
Adaptive Governance of Disaster: Drought and Flood in Rural Areas (Water Governance - Concepts, Methods, and Practice #First Edition)
by Margot A. HurlbertThis book provides a comparative analysis of policy instruments designed to respond to climate change, drought and floods in connection with agricultural producers and their communities in four case study areas: Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada; Coquimbo, Chile; and Mendoza, Argentina. Assessed from the standpoint of effectiveness and adaptive governance, instruments for improving the livelihood capitals of agricultural producers are identified and recommendations to improve the suite of policy instruments are put forward.
Adaptive Governance: Integrating Science, Policy, and Decision Making
by Ronald Brunner Toddi Steelman Lindy Coe-Juell Christina Cromley Christine Edwards Donna TuckerDrawing on five detailed case studies from the American West, the authors explore and clarify how to expedite a transition toward adaptive governance and break the gridlock in natural resource policymaking. Unlike scientific management, which relies on science as the foundation for policies made through a central bureaucratic authority, adaptive governance integrates various types of knowledge and organizations. Adaptive governance relies on open decision-making processes recognizing multiple interests, community-based initiatives, and an integrative science in addition to traditional science. Case studies discussed include a program to protect endangered fish in the Colorado River with the active participation of water developers and environmentalists; a district ranger's innovative plan to manage national forestland in northern New Mexico; and how community-based forestry groups are affecting legislative change in Washington, D.C.
Adaptive Management For Water Resources Project Planning
by Panel on Adaptive Management for Resource StewardshipThis book reviews the Corps of Engineers' experiences to date with the concept of “adaptive management” and provides advice on additional and more effective implementation of this planning approach. The adaptive management concept itself is complex and evolving, but might be summarized as “learning while doing.” The book reviews literature on adaptive management and notes that a range of adaptive management practices present themselves for Corps projects. It is noted that there is no “cookbook” approach to adaptive management, and the book encourages the Corps of Engineers to continue to work with and learn from its applications of the concept. To facilitate institutional learning and to ensure that experiences are being employed across the agency, the book recommends that a Corps Center for Adaptive Management be established. The book also notes that greater involvement from the administration and Congress will be essential to successful adaptive management applications, as the Corps' efforts in this area will benefit from clarified water resources management objectives, the authority to manage adaptively, and from resources necessary for programs such as stakeholder collaboration and post-construction evaluations.
Adaptive Materials and Structures
by Division On Engineering Physical SciencesAdaptive Materials and Structures
Adaptive Participatory Environmental Governance in Japan: Local Experiences, Global Lessons
by Taisuke Miyauchi Mayumi FukunagaThis book contributes to the theoretical and practitioner literature in environmental governance and sustainability of natural resources by linking case studies of the roles of narratives to the three key practices in local environmental governance: socio-political legitimacy in participation; collaboratively creating stakeholder-ness, and cultivating social and ecological capabilities. It provides numerous theoretical insights on legitimacy, adaptability, narratives, process-oriented collaborative planning, and among others, using in-depth case studies from historical and contemporary environmental issues including conservation, wildlife management, nuclear and tsunami disasters, and thus community risk, recovery, and resiliency. The authors are all practitioner-oriented scientists and scholars who are involved as local stakeholders in these practices. The chapters highlight their action and participatory-action research that adds deeper insights and analyses to successes, failures, and struggles in how narratives contribute to these three dimensions of effective environmental governance. It also shows how stakeholders’ kinds of expertise, in a historical context, help to bridge expert and citizen legitimacy, as well as spatial and jurisdictional governance structures across scales of socio-political governanceOf particular interest, both within Japan and beyond, the book shares with readers how to design and manage practical governance methods with narratives. The detailed design methods include co-imagination of historical and current SESs, designing processes for collaborative productions of knowledge and perceptions, legitimacy and stakeholder-ness, contextualization of contested experiences among actors, and the creation of evaluation standards of what is effective and effective local environmental governance.The case studies and their findings reflect particular local contexts in Japan, but our experiences of multiple natural disasters, high economic growth and development, pollutions, the nuclear power plant accident, and rapidly aging society provide shared contexts of realities and provisional insights to other societies, especially to Asian societies.
Adaptive Soil Management: From Theory to Practices
by Harikesh Bahadur Singh Amitava Rakshit Purushothaman Chirakuzhyil Abhilash Subhadip GhoshThe book focuses in detail on learning and adapting through partnerships between managers, scientists, and other stake#65533;holders who learn together how to create and maintain sustainable resource systems. As natural areas shrink and fragment, our ability to sustain economic growth and safeguard biological diversity and ecological integrity is increasingly being put to the test. In attempting to meet this unprecedented challenge, adaptive management is becoming a viable alternative for broader application. Adaptive management is an iterative decision-making process which is both operationally and conceptually simple and which incorporates users to acknowledge and account for uncertainty, and sustain an operating environment that promotes its reduction through careful planning, evaluation, and learning until the desired results are achieved. This multifaceted approach requires clearly defined management objectives to guide decisions about what actions to take, and explicit assumptions about expected outcomes to compare against actual outcomes. In this edited book, we address the issue by pursuing a holistic and systematic approach that utilizes natural resources to reap sustainable environmental, economic and social benefits for adap#65533;tive management, helping to ensure that relationships between land, water and plants are managed in ways that mimic nature.
Adaptive Thermal Comfort of Indoor Environment for Residential Buildings: Efficient Strategy for Saving Energy (SpringerBriefs in Architectural Design and Technology)
by Carlos Rubio-Bellido David Bienvenido-HuertasThis book is structured in four parts: First, it analyzes the sustainability objectives established for the building stock and the importance of thermal comfort in this aspect. Second, the existing adaptive thermal comfort models and the main energy-saving measures associated with these models are analyzed. Third, the energy savings obtained with these measures are analyzed in several case studies, comparing the results obtained with other energy conservation measures, such as the improvement of the façade. The analysis is carried out from an energy and economic perspective. Finally, a decision‐making process based on fuzzy logic is established. As an expected result, the content of the book contributes to assist architects in designing more efficient buildings from the perspective of user behavior.
Adaptive Urban Transformation: Urban Landscape Dynamics, Regional Design and Territorial Governance in the Pearl River Delta, China (The Urban Book Series)
by Steffen Nijhuis Eckart Lange Yimin SunThis open access book provides a cross-sectoral, integrative and multi-scale design and planning approach for adaptive urban transformation of fast urbanising deltas, taking the Pearl River Delta (China) as a case study. Deltaic areas are among the most promising regions in the world. Their strategic location and superior quality of their soils are core factors supporting both human development and the rise of these regions as global economic hubs. At the same time, however, deltas are extremely vulnerable to multiple threats from both climate change and urbanisation. These include an increased flood risk combined with the resulting loss of ecological and social-cultural values. To ensure a more sustainable future for these areas, spatial strategies are needed to strengthen resilience, i.e. help the systems to cope with their vulnerabilities as well as enhance their capacity to overcome natural and artificial threats.The book provides a unique approach that integrates research in urban landscape systems, territorial governance and visualisation techniques that will help to achieve more integrated and resilient deltas. Based on an assessment of the dynamics of change regarding the transformational cycles of natural and urban landscape elements, eco-dynamic regional design strategies are explored to reveal greater opportunities for the exploitation of natural and social-cultural factors within the processes of urban development.