Fostering the climate-energy transition with an integrated approach

Abstract

Cities have a key role in tackling the challenges related to climate change and they constitute an ideal framework to engage with low carbon and green agendas, and to transform the built environment with resilient and inclusive measures. In this paper, the relationship between adaptation and mitigation strategies has been investigated, to evaluate the possibility of combining them in planning policies and design practices. To this end, recent studies and European policies are reviewed to examine the interrelation between adaptation and mitigation strategies, and to explore to which extent a more integrated approach is foreseen towards urban transitions. The review allows an assessment of synergies, trade-offs and conflicts between adaptation and mitigation in urban practices and highlights several win-win solutions, such as Green Urban Infrastructure and climate sensitive design. However, the analysis indicates a lack of guidance and coordination, leading to the tendency to consider separately adaptation and mitigation, both in policy and in practice. The study intends to provide an overview of the interrelations and to present the gaps in current processes, with the aim of fostering a more integrated approach at the local level and of implementing more efficiently low carbon and adaptive solutions.

Keywords

• mitigation
• adaptation
• urban design
• climate policies
• integrated approach