Quantification of urban mitigation potentials - coping with data heterogeneity.

Area of Science:

• Urban planning and climate change mitigation
• Sustainable urban development
• Environmental science and policy

Background:

• Cities are central to European and international climate action efforts.
• Growing urban populations increase pressure on infrastructure and development, necessitating focused urban planning.
• Existing urban planning approaches often lack standardized quantification methods for climate impact assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce adaptable quantification approaches for assessing urban planning measures.
• To evaluate the climate mitigation potential across sustainable building, transport, and redensification strategies.
• To provide tools applicable across diverse urban data availability levels.

Main Methods:

• Development of flexible quantification approaches for urban planning impacts.
• Calculation of mitigation potentials for measures including modal shifts, material substitution (wood in construction), and redensification scenarios.
• Analysis tailored to accommodate varying data availability across different cities.

Main Results:

• Substitution of conventional building materials with wood demonstrates significant climate mitigation potential.
• Modal shifts in transport and various redensification strategies also contribute to climate mitigation.
• Building construction, integrated with urban planning and design, is identified as a key climate change mitigation driver in urban environments.

Conclusions:

• Integrated urban planning and building design are crucial for city-level climate change mitigation.
• Mixed quantification approaches are necessary due to data heterogeneity among cities.
• Identifying high-potential measures and policy areas is key for effective climate action.