Climate-proof through design: Research and design for climate adaptation in peri-urban territories

Vertaalde titel van de bijdrage: Klimaatadaptatie via ontwerp: Onderzoek en ontwerp naar klimaatadaptatie in peri-urbane gebieden

    Onderzoeksoutput: ScriptieDoctoraatsscriptie - Doctoraatsscriptiepeer review

    Uittreksel

    In recent years climate research and policies have increased exponentially. Besides climate mitigation, they now include the challenge of climate adaptation. We must prepare for the future climate and its impacts such as aggravating floods, droughts, heat stress, etcetera. A key issue is the creation of ‘climate-proof’ territories.

    Consequently, climate adaptation has become a hot topic in the field of spatial design. Current designs often burst with terms such as ‘climate resilient’, ‘climate adaptive’ or ‘climate-proof’. This research conceptualizes spatial design as a product and as a process. Spatial design generates an outlook on the future development of a site that is communicated through graphical material such as maps and models (product), and it is a medium to debate about space and the management of a site (process).

    This research studies spatial design for climate adaptation in a particular context: the peri-urban territories. Many areas of the world, including Flanders, are characterized by a complex patchwork of open and built-up spaces that results from leapfrog urbanization. These territories are ‘periurban’, implying they are in-between ‘rural’ and ‘urban’. They demand for specific (spatial) policy work tailored to their fragmented condition.

    This research juxtaposes the challenge of climate adaptation, the practice of spatial design and the context of peri-urban territories. The research delineates two main research questions. What constitutes a climate adaptation design (product) in peri-urban areas? And how can the
    design activity (process) contribute to the governance of climate adaptation?

    Necessary data to answer these questions was collected in three case studies, dispersed across the Flemish territory. These cases represent the wide variety of future climate challenges in Flanders and diverse peri-urban conditions. Moreover, the applied method varies from case to case
    in order to test diverse design processes. The three case studies are:

    [1] An individual Research by Design on the Brussels’ rural-urban fringe. The area at the fringe of the Brussels’ metropolitan agglomeration faces urban heat stress, pluvial floods, fluvial floods, water scarcity and soil erosion.

    [2] A design workshop on the Campine region. The studied area comprises fragmented urbanization along a transport axis. Local climate challenges are heat stress, fire hazards, fluvial floods, pluvial floods and droughts.

    [3] A state-of-the-art review of adaptation proposals for the Flemish coast, which is characterized by linear touristic development along the coastline. The region must adapt to aggravating coastal erosion, fluvial floods, coastal safety and water management in the low-lying polders under pressure.

    Next, the research reflects on these three case studies in a cross-case analysis. A first part of the analysis concentrates on spatial design as a product and lists ideas and key characteristics of a design proposal for climate adaptation. It argues, for instance, that climate adaptation
    design must integrate various climate challenges as well as other sustainability challenges into a singular outlook. Furthermore, special attention is given to the challenges of climate adaptation design that are unique to the peri-urban context. This part of the research showcases, among other issues, the importance of the preservation of open space and the pivotal role of the (agricultural) landscape.




    Vertaalde titel van de bijdrageKlimaatadaptatie via ontwerp: Onderzoek en ontwerp naar klimaatadaptatie in peri-urbane gebieden
    Oorspronkelijke taalEngels
    Toekennende instelling
    • Universiteit Antwerpen, Faculteit Ontwerpwetenschappen
    Begeleiders/adviseurs
    • Rogge, Elke, Begeleider
    • Kerselaers, Eva, Begeleider
    Toekenningsdatum11-dec.-2017
    Uitgever
    Elektronische ISBN’s978 90 5728 567 7
    PublicatiestatusGepubliceerd - 2017

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