BMBF Research Project HeatResilientCity
Heat-resilient cities and district development. -Residential-orientated knowledge generation and implementation in Dresden and Erfurt
Governance structures, stakeholder perspectives, and strategies in thermally stressed districts
Project Description
Increasing heat stress is one of the most acknowledged and serious conse-quences of climate change in urban areas. The joint research project HeatResil-ientCity aims at developing and implementing innovative, socially fair, and adap-tive measures to reduce thermal stress both in buildings and in open spaces at district level. Selected neighbourhoods in the cities of Erfurt and Dresden serve as ‘living laboratories’. Here, preventive measures with regard to individ-ual behaviour and construction are tested by means of knowledge transfer, participation, and physical implementation.
Research Questions
- How can both the quality of life and attractiveness of urban districts be preserved and improved, seeing it from the residents’ perspective?
- How can buildings be adjusted taking into account energy consumption and social acceptance?
- How can urban spaces be preserved and improved for optimizing their potential ecosystem services, keeping cost restraints in mind?
Aims and Methods
The interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research concentrates on tackling conflicting aims of urban development and climate adaptation. It tries to increase not only the acceptance but also the effectiveness of measures for cli-mate adaption. Barriers that withhold implementations are supposed to be identified and reduced. By doing this, the project accomplishes approaches for future-oriented and sustainable city development.
In particular, the subjective perception and behavioural manners of residents are explored to determine specific stress factors that are caused by the urban heat effect.
During the project, impulses of action will be identified and specific strategies for climate change adaption will be implemented via pilot measures. At all time, focal point of the research is the residents’ quality of life at the differ-ent levels city, district and household.
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Duration: 10/2017 to 09/2020
Cooperation partner within the BMBF joint project:
