Urban Climate Science For Planning Healthy Cities

This volume demonstrates how urban climate science can provide valuable information for planning healthy cities. The book illustrates the idea of "Science in Time, Science in Place" by providing worldwide case-based urban climatic planning applications for a variety of regions and countries, utilizing relevant climatic-spatial planning experiences to address local climatic and environmental health issues. Comprised of three major sections entitled "The Rise of Mega-cities and the Concept of Climate Resilience and Healthy Living," "Urban Climate Science in Action," and "Future Challenges and the Way Forward," the book argues for the recognition of climate as a key element of healthy cities. Topics covered include: urban resilience in a climate context, climate responsive planning and urban climate interventions to achieve healthy cities, climate extremes, public health impact, urban climate-related health risk information, urban design and planning, and governance and management of sustainable urban development. The book will appeal to an international audience of practicing planners and designers, public health and built environment professionals, social scientists, researchers in epidemiology, climatology and biometeorology, and international to city scale policy makers. Chapter “Manchester: The Role of Urban Domestic Gardens in Climate Adaptation and Resilience” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This volume demonstrates how urban climate science can provide valuable information for planning healthy cities. The book illustrates the idea of "Science in Time, Science in Place" by providing worldwide case-based urban climatic planning applications for a variety of regions and countries, utilizing relevant climatic-spatial planning experiences to address local climatic and environmental health issues. Comprised of three major sections entitled "The Rise of Mega-cities and the Concept of Climate Resilience and Healthy Living," "Urban Climate Science in Action," and "Future Challenges and the Way Forward," the book argues for the recognition of climate as a key element of healthy cities. Topics covered include: urban resilience in a climate context, climate responsive planning and urban climate interventions to achieve healthy cities, climate extremes, public health impact, urban climate-related health risk information, urban design and planning, and governance and management of sustainable urban development. The book will appeal to an international audience of practicing planners and designers, public health and built environment professionals, social scientists, researchers in epidemiology, climatology and biometeorology, and international to city scale policy makers.

Mounting scientific evidence generated over the past decade highlights the significant role of our citiesê built environments in shaping our health and well-being. In this book, the authors conceptualize the •urban health nicheê as a novel approach to

Urban Climates is the first full synthesis of modern scientific and applied research on urban climates. The book begins with an outline of what constitutes an urban ecosystem. It develops a comprehensive terminology for the subject using scale and surface classification as key constructs. It explains the physical principles governing the creation of distinct urban climates, such as airflow around buildings, the heat island, precipitation modification and air pollution, and it then illustrates how this knowledge can be applied to moderate the undesirable consequences of urban development and help create more sustainable and resilient cities. With urban climate science now a fully-fledged field, this timely book fulfills the need to bring together the disparate parts of climate research on cities into a coherent framework. It is an ideal resource for students and researchers in fields such as climatology, urban hydrology, air quality, environmental engineering and urban design.

This book investigates different aspects of the relationship between “healthy cities” and “urban planning”, examining various best practices in Europe. It uses the above as a starting point and investigates different aspects of healthy cities, examining various best practices in Europe. Capitalizing on ongoing trials, the chapters identify the policies that underlie plans and projects that have caused positive changes in local communities in terms of the quality of life and safety of inhabitants. From these best practices, the book deduces criteria and guidelines for planning healthy and safe cities.

According to the United Nations, three out of five people will be living in cities worldwide by the year 2030. The United States continues to experience urbanization with its vast urban corridors on the east and west coasts. Although urban weather is driven by large synoptic and meso-scale features, weather events unique to the urban environment arise from the characteristics of the typical urban setting, such as large areas covered by buildings of a variety of heights; paved streets and parking areas; means to supply electricity, natural gas, water, and raw materials; and generation of waste heat and materials. Urban Meteorology: Forecasting, Monitoring, and Meeting Users' Needs is based largely on the information provided at a Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate community workshop. This book describes the needs for end user communities, focusing in particular on needs that are not being met by current urban-level forecasting and monitoring. Urban Meteorology also describes current and emerging meteorological forecasting and monitoring capabilities that have had and will likely have the most impact on urban areas, some of which are not being utilized by the relevant end user communities. Urban Meteorology explains that users of urban meteorological information need high-quality information available in a wide variety of formats that foster its use and within time constraints set by users' decision processes. By advancing the science and technology related to urban meteorology with input from key end user communities, urban meteorologists can better meet the needs of diverse end users. To continue the advancement within the field of urban meteorology, there are both short-term needs-which might be addressed with small investments but promise large, quick returns-as well as future challenges that could require significant efforts and investments.

It argues that the formation and implementation of local climate change policy has been limited by the resources and powers of local government, and by conflicts between economic and environmental objectives.

In cities around the world, planning and health experts are beginning to understand the role of social and environmental conditions that lead to trauma. By respecting the lived experience of those who were most impacted by harms, some cities have developed innovative solutions for urban trauma. In Cities for Life, public health expert Jason Corburn shares lessons from three of these cities: Richmond, California; Medellín, Colombia; and Nairobi, Kenya. Corburn draws from his work with citizens, activists, and decision-makers in these cities over a ten-year period, as individuals and communities worked to heal from trauma--including from gun violence, housing and food insecurity, poverty, and other harms. Cities for Life is about a new way forward with urban communities that rebuilds our social institutions, practices, and policies to be more focused on healing and health.

This book tackles the future challenges and opportunities for planning our cities and towns in a changing climate and recommends key actions for more resilient urban futures. Urban Planning for Climate Change focusses on how urban planning is fundamental to action on climate change. In doing so it particularly looks at current practice and opportunities for innovation and capacity building in the future - carbon neutral development, building back better and creating more resilient urban settlements around the world. The complex challenge of possible urban resettlement from the impact of climate change is covered as a special issue bringing a focus on adaptation, working with nature and delivering real action on climate change with local communities. Norman recommends ten essential actions for urban planning for climate change along with some suggestions to inspire the next generations to embrace these opportunities with creativity and innovation. Featuring key messages and implications for practice in each chapter, this book will be of great interest to students, scholars, practitioners and communities involved in planning more climate resilient urban and regional futures.

Approximately 80% of the U.S. population now lives in urban metropolitan areas, and this number is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. At the same time, the built infrastructure sustaining these populations has become increasingly vulnerable to climate change. Stresses to existing systems, such as buildings, energy, transportation, water, and sanitation are growing. If the status quo continues, these systems will be unable to support a high quality of life for urban residents over the next decades, a vulnerability exacerbated by climate change impacts. Understanding this dilemma and identifying a path forward is particularly important as cities are becoming leading agents of climate action. Prepared as a follow-up to the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA), Climate Change and U.S. Cities documents the current understanding of existing and future climate risk for U.S. cities, urban systems, and the residents that depend on them. Beginning with an examination of the existing science since 2012, chapters develop connections between existing and emerging climate risk, adaptation planning, and the role of networks and organizations in facilitating climate action in cities. From studies revealing disaster vulnerability among low-income populations to the development of key indicators for tracking climate change, this is an essential, foundational analysis. Importantly, the assessment puts a critical emphasis on the cross-cutting factors of economics, equity, and governance. Urban stakeholders and decision makers will come away with a full picture of existing climate risks and a set of conclusions and recommendations for action. Many cities in the United States still have not yet planned for climate change and the costs of inaction are great. With bold analysis, Climate Change and U.S. Cities reveals the need for action and the tools that cities must harness to effect decisive, meaningful change.