Twelve recommendations for action for strengthening climate adaptation in municipalities

To prepare for climate change, cities must integrate adaptation measures into municipal planning processes and create the foundations for mutual planning and action. This paper summarises twelve recommendations to strengthen the integration of climate adaptation to heat and heavy rain in municipal planning. 

How can climate adaptation be better integrated into urban planning?

The recommendations are the result of close exchange between municipal planners, other municipal representatives and scientists. They have two main goals:

1. Overarching recommendations: Improvement of the legal and institutional framework for the integration of climate adaptation into urban planning at federal and state level.
2. Specific recommendations: The increased, functional integration of concrete climate adaptation from selected fields of action into formal and informal planning at the municipal level.

The implementation of these twelve recommendations (...) helps to reduce risks and potential damage from extreme climatic events, increase climate resilience, and enable a more climate-friendly life in cities and towns.

Specific recommendations for climate adaptation

• S1: The proportion of green and water-retention roofs should be increased.
• S2: Concerns of climate adaptation and monument protection should be better reconciled.
• S3: Orientation values and regulations regarding heat stress should be developed.
• S4: Laws related to intervention should be strengthened.
• S5: The dismantling and unsealing of street spaces should be made easier.
• S6: Car parking space requirements should be relaxed or abolished.
• S7: Multifunctional spaces should be strengthened and prioritised.

The multifunctionality of spaces must be made easier and be a much higher priority.

Who are the recommendations intended for?

The recommendations are aimed at political decision-makers and actors who are directly or indirectly involved and have a say in the integration of climate adaptation into municipal planning. These include, in particular, political decision-makers at federal, state and local levels, local administration, climate adaptation managers, landscape and urban planners, as well as multipliers, e.g. the district council and the association of cities and municipalities.