According to the UN’s Population Division, seven in ten people will live in urban areas by 2050. Today, 4.4 billion people-56% of the world’s population– live in cities. Agriculture automation increased natural disasters, and land consolidation is decreasing rural jobs. Meanwhile, diverse employment opportunities, education, and greater cultural capital pull people into cities. Thus, the growth of urbanization is unsurprising. This shift is making urban areas both centres of opportunity and significant contributors to global CO2 emissions, accounting for around 70% of total emissions.
In our changing climate, cities have become a proving ground for climate resilience and adaptation in planning and policy-making. Climate resilience entails governance that anticipates the effects of climate change as part of urban planning and infrastructure development. Urban density has intensified vulnerability to pollution and extreme weather events, making resilience crucial. Additionally, if city governance is more localized, it can accurately reflect the wants of urban inhabitants through more direct accountability. Combined, these factors push city governments and urban planners to take a vested interest in implementing climate resilience and adaptation policies in order to lower C02 emissions and prepare for climate change.
A strong climate resilience policy is intersectional and entails consideration of the environmental, ecological, social, and economic factors that constitute urban life. The Netherland’s political capital, Rotterdam, prioritises climate resistance. For Rotterdam, the impacts of climate change are not a far-away hypothetical. Twenty-five percent of the Netherlands is below sea level, leaving approximately two-thirds of the country at risk of flooding from river overflow caused by intense storms. In Rotterdam, 90% of the city is below sea level, with some areas being five metres below. For protection, the city began integrating climate change adaptation into urban policy, adopting the Rotterdam Climate Proof Policy in 2008 and the Rotterdam Climate Change Adaptation Strategy in 2013. Most recently, in 2022, the city adopted a new five-year plan, the Resilient Rotterdam Strategy for 2022-2027. The strategy seeks to address both planetary crises and socioeconomic concerns by applying a comprehensive approach. Integrating social factors such as economic inequality, education, and healthcare with infrastructure development is vital for public safety, flood protection, and housing.
Social Determinants of Health: Health and Intersections of the Built and Social Environment
Social determinants of health are the complex set of factors and conditions that influence health. They are how people live, grow, work, age and die in their environment. In urban planning, a social determinant of health framework traces material health outcomes to the socioeconomic, ecological and political factors shaping the social environment. For example, smoking rates have generally declined in North America – but have not declined equally among lower-income groups. Socioeconomic factors such as lower access to health education and targeted campaigns from tobacco groups only partly explain this. The social aspects of the community’s built environment also need to be examined. A study conducted in Glasgow, Scotland, found that higher rates of smoking were linked to stress from living in a community with poor local infrastructure and low opportunities for recreation. Additionally, these communities are excluded from higher-income areas where anti-smoking norms have been most adopted. Making anti-smoking laws seem discriminatory reinforces the community’s sense of exclusion.
Climate Change Resilience and Health in Urban Environments: a Two-Pronged Framework
Urban climate resilience and adaptation are most effective when they address both the built and social environment, and Benthemplein in Rotterdam is a prime example. Completed in 2013, also called Water Square, Benthemplein is a combined public space and water storage. During periods of high rainfall, three cascading pools fill with nearby runoff. The water flows into an underground infiltration device – to keep the groundwater level balanced. When the pools are empty in dry weather, they become recreation areas that feature a skate park, a large sports court, and seating to watch the games. Linking climate resilience with the community in tangible and visible ways – such as Rotterdam’s Water Square – doubly protects the city from material destruction and actively engages the community, promoting public activity and consolidating interest in fighting climate change. Water Square and other city-led initiatives contribute to building an empirical and theoretical basis of sustainable city planning that can be applied elsewhere.
The Issue of Green Gentrification
When considering the positives of climate-resistant urban development, it is essential to consider what exclusions are reproduced and how local communities are impacted. Framed under the purported apolitical goal of sustainability, “green” or environmental gentrification capitalizes on the material and rhetorical successes of urban environmental justice movements. Repurposing these achievements to promote upscale redevelopment ultimately displaces low-income residents. Over the next ten years, Rotterdam plans to invest €233 million in seven city projects focused on adding green spaces. Investment in green space is a good thing – it improves happiness and counteracts the heat that urban areas attract. On the other hand, enhancing green spaces also attracts property developers and appeals to high-income buyers, leading to increased property values unaffordable for lower-income residents. In New York City, the restoration of Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem spurred the development of nearby luxury condominiums, causing ripple effects across neighbourhood property values. Without controls like rent protection, sustainable development still reproduces socioeconomic inequalities, especially regarding housing and green space access. Green gentrification illustrates that cities’ climate resilience and sustainability must be scrutinized for the inequalities they entrench, even if well implemented.
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), 2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record, roughly 1.5°C hotter than expected without climate change. The continuing growth of urban populations and unique vulnerabilities means that cities must urgently contend with our changing climate. Cities should implement a two-pronged approach that considers both the built and social environment in their pursuit of climate resilience and sustainability. Rotterdam’s approach and Water Square show that holistic planning can make a meaningful impact. However, as cities invest in climate adaptation, they must critically assess the impact of green initiatives on social equity. The future of urban policy must be both resilient and just, setting a sustainable path forward in a world marked by climate uncertainty.
Edited by Alexandra MacNaughton
This is an article written by a Staff Writer. Catalyst is a student-led platform that fosters engagement with global issues from a learning perspective. The opinions expressed above do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication.
I’m a writer for Catalyst and the McGill Journal of Political Science. I am passionate about topics such as politics, sustainability and geography!