As the global climate warms, the cities we live in are truly facing climate-related challenges that are developing in an increasingly complex direction.
Waterlogging caused by heavy rains, heat waves caused by high temperatures, and water shortages caused by droughts. These extreme weather events are no longer the distant images shown in the news, but have a real and direct impact on daily commuting, living conditions, and even safety.
Our country has a vast territory, rich and diverse climate types, and differences in urban development levels. How to make cities more "resilient" in the face of climate change has become a topic of increasing concern to everyone.
In recent years, from the national level to local regions, they have been in a state of active exploration and exploration. In particular, the batch of pilot cities have already explored some practical paths.
A first step towards integrating climate risks into urban planning
The key step in building a climate-adaptive city is to incorporate factors related to climate change into urban planning in advance.
In the past, when we built cities, we focused more on current development and thought less about future climate risks.
Now the situation has changed. In 2013, the "National Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change" was promulgated and issued. By 2016, the "Urban Adaptation to Climate Change Action Plan" was clarified. Then by 2022, the "National Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change 2035" was upgraded. The national level has always been promoting climate adaptation indicators to be included in urban and rural planning systems, construction standards, and industrial development plans.
This shows that when cities develop new areas and renovate old cities, they must assess the climate risks they may encounter in the future, such as whether low-lying areas are prone to waterlogging and whether newly built residential areas can withstand high temperatures.
This kind of "first mover" planning can reduce the city's vulnerability to climate change at the source.
“Adapting measures to local conditions” and innovative exploration in pilot cities
In 2017, the country selected 28 cities across the country and then launched pilot projects for climate-adaptive urban construction.
This batch of pilot projects is significantly representative. It not only includes different regions such as the eastern region, central region, and western region, but also considers different city sizes, different urban functions, and different climate risk types.
For example, Haikou City in Hainan mainly faces risks from typhoons, heavy rains and urban flooding. Under this situation, they have built a comprehensive meteorological observation system. The weather forecast under this system can be accurate to 1 kilometer and will be updated hourly. The warning for sudden disastrous weather is even 15 minutes in advance, thus gaining valuable response time for citizens and city operations.
Well, Xixian New District in Shaanxi is promoting the construction of sponge cities across the region. Its area exceeds 20 million square meters. With the help of permeable pavements, sunken green spaces, rain gardens and other facilities, the city is like a sponge. When it rains, it can absorb and store water, and "release" and utilize it when needed. The comprehensive management capabilities of water resources have been significantly improved.
These practices clearly show that there is no “one-size-fits-all” recipe for climate adaptation. It is necessary to find the path that best suits the city based on the major local climate risk conditions and the city’s own characteristics.
Technological empowerment: from “post-disaster relief” to “pre-prevention”
In the past, responding to meteorological disasters was more about post-disaster rescue and rescue.
Now, the application of technological means makes "prevention beforehand" possible.
For pilot cities, digital technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence are being applied to the construction of platforms that operate efficiently to monitor weather changes and are also used to predict weather changes.
These platforms can capture the initial signs of abnormal weather earlier and more accurately, and then issue warnings in advance. Based on this warning, relevant departments can dispatch drainage equipment in advance, carry out the task of reinforcing outdoor facilities, and initiate emergency response.
At the same time, the research and development of green and low-carbon technologies, the research and development of ecological restoration technologies, the application of green and low-carbon technologies, and the application of ecological restoration technologies have all continued to improve the climate resilience of urban infrastructure.
For example, when some cities are carrying out renovation work on old pipe networks, they will select materials that are more resistant to high temperatures and frost resistance; when carrying out river repair work, shorelines with natural landscape features or functions will be restored, so that rivers can have more space for floods to pass through when encountering weather conditions such as heavy rains.
For cities, the role of technology is that when cities encounter climate change, they can transform the city from its original "passive response" state to a "active adaptation" state.
National participation and institutional guarantees are lasting driving forces
The construction of a climate-adaptive city is not something that can be accomplished overnight, nor is it something that the government can carry out unilaterally, but something that requires the participation of the whole society.
First, the laws, regulations and policy system need to be improved. Planning guidelines specifically for climate-resilient cities need to be introduced. A strict assessment mechanism and accountability mechanism must also be established. This ensures that various adaptation actions can be implemented without distortion.
On the other hand, it is necessary to stimulate public participation.
When everyone realizes that heavy rains, waterlogging, high temperatures and heat waves are related to their own lives, and knows that small things such as roof greening, rainwater collection, and green travel can also contribute to urban climate adaptation, the initiative to participate will be enhanced.
Only by combining "top-down" policy guidance with "bottom-up" public participation can a long-term governance mechanism be formed.
From pilot to promotion, what is the road ahead?
Although the pilot cities have accumulated a lot of valuable experience, my country's industrialization process continues to advance rapidly, and my country's urbanization process is also developing at such a rapid pace. The trend of regional climate change and the heat island effect of the city itself are superimposed. The construction of climate-adaptive cities still faces extremely arduous tasks, and the road is still long.
At present, some regions still do not have enough awareness of the importance of this work, the work mechanism is not yet complete, and investment in funds and even actions urgently need to be strengthened.
The key point in the future is to carry out a comprehensive and comprehensive assessment of the results of the work in these pilot areas, and to extract and summarize the experiences that have actually worked and can be replicated, so as to build a model that can be promoted.
At the same time, it is also necessary to pay attention to the sharing of assessment results, further increase investment in work related to climate change adaptation, and encourage more cities to proactively explore various innovative methods based on actual conditions.
At the international level, strengthening mutual learning and reference through cooperation with international organizations and holding seminars can provide us with opportunities to learn from excellent international practice cases, and at the same time tell the story of Chinese cities' response to climate change.
Building climate-resilient cities is essentially about building safer and more livable homes.
According to the plan first, through technological empowerment, through pilot exploration, and finally institutional guarantee, every step is towards the same goal: to enable our city to maintain stable and healthy operation while coping with the uncertainty caused by climate change.
This is not only an inevitable requirement for sustainable urban development, but also a livelihood project that every citizen can benefit from.
Comments NOTHING