Tomorrow Today: The Future-Proof, Climate-Resilient City
Leading cities are future-proofing themselves with nature-based solutions that enhance resilience and promote biodiversity. One city leading the way is Hamburg, with green roofs sprouting up across the city.
A future-proof city is a city that is resilient to climatic shocks and stresses including floods, droughts, and heatwaves. It is also a city that recognizes the degradation of the natural environment and actively restores and protects biodiversity. Finally, a future-proof city is one that does all the above while maximizing economic and social welfare in an equitable manner.
It is recognized that nature-based solutions can facilitate the development of future-proof cities as it utilizes natural and semi-natural areas, ranging in size from the urban garden right up to urban green corridors, to deliver a wide range of environmental, economic, and social benefits, including protecting property and infrastructure from extreme weather events, reducing the urban heat island effect, improving air quality, providing space for wildlife, and offering recreational opportunities.
Hamburg Greening its Roofs
Hamburg is the first German city to have developed a comprehensive green roof strategy. The city faces increased flooding risk while at the same time a strong demand for new housing is placing pressure on the city’s open green spaces. To adapt to climate change and make use of premium space, the city has set the goal of encouraging the building of 100 additional hectares of green roofs over a decade.
Multiple Benefits of Green Roofs
Green roofs provide a variety of benefits including: higher quality of life, recreational use and pleasure, higher durability than conventional roofs, climate resilience, rainwater retention, improved indoor temperature control, biodiversity protection, and improved sound and temperature insulation
Subsidies for Green Roofs
The city subsidizes up to 60% of the costs of voluntary greening measures up to €50,000. Additional subsidies are available for green roofs that are used for generating solar energy and green roofs that promote recreation and the enjoyment of nature. Furthermore, owners of green roofs can also save 50% on rainwater fees.
Restoring lost grassland on rooftops
With grassland vegetation decreasing at an increasing rate, the City of Hamburg, in cooperation with German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) and the Association of German Native Seed and Plant Producers (VWWe. V.), have compiled a list of plants for extensive greening with an emphasis on low-growing species from northwestern Germany. These plants can also be combined with solar systems.
Green Roofs Sprouting in 2018
The area covered by green roofs has increased from 80 to 141 hectares in the past five years. By the end of 2018, 118 grants had been made for green roofs covering a total of 4.5 hectares with applicants including both private building owners and businesses.
The take-out
A future-proof city is forward-thinking, resilient to future climatic extremes, innovative with limited space, and protects nature.
Join the New LinkedIn Groups:
Blue-Green Infrastructure: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/10412555/
Circular Water Economy: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/10416662/
Nature-Based Solutions: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/10477203
