Methodological Framework for Fostering the Implementation of Climate-Responsive Public Spaces and Streetscapes to Support Multifunctional Design

Abstract

The ongoing effect of climate change heating up urban areas is forcing cities to exploit the adaptation potential of their public open spaces. Streets and squares are important urban open spaces that can contribute to climate change adaptation through the targeted application of individual measures. In order to ensure the effective and appropriate application of climate-relevant measures for the public good, the city of Vienna relies on the development of a guideline that focuses on measures from the field of urban green and blue infrastructure (UGBI) (and a few technical measures (TM)) in the urban open space. In the future, this guideline will make it easier for city employees to select appropriate measures. In the context of an applied research project, existing and possible measures in Vienna were collected, examined, and assessed for their climate, ecological, and social sustainability based on the concept of ecosystem services (ES). The challenge here is to capture this broad topic of sustainability and climate change and to draw on a broad spectrum of knowledge from science and research, as well as directly from practice. The result is a methodological framework that can be used by other cities as a basis for the development of individual guidelines to foster climate-relevant measures and a critical analysis of the use of co-creation in the development of the framework.