Awareness of urban climate adaptation strategies – An international overview

This paper analyses what different urban actors (citizens; politicians; urban planners and designers; and urban climate experts) who shape the urban environment and thus its climate, know about urban climate adaptation measures. Thereby, this study is concerned with the levels of awareness about urban climate adaptation, using semi-structured interviews with specialists in the field of urban sustainability related to urban planning and climate in ten countries worldwide.

The results indicated that awareness of adaptation measures differs between countries, but even more so between different actor groups. Citizens and politicians are less aware than urban planners or designers and urban climate experts. Awareness raising should involve media campaigns, further education and display of good practice. Politicians should work on better laws and their enforcement and urban climate experts on good knowledge communication.