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Barriers and opportunities for urban adaptation planning: analytical framework and evidence from cities in Latin America and Germany

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Abstract

This paper analyzes barriers and opportunities for effective adaptation planning in cities. In particular, we focus on the preparation and adoption of adaptation strategies and action plans by urban planners. For this purpose, we develop a two-tier framework of variables influencing decision-making. The framework emphasizes interaction between different commonly discussed categories of barriers (or opportunities) and their sources. We argue that whether or not urban planners take action to foster adaptation to climate change depends on three first-tier variables: information, resources, and incentives. In addition, we point out that each of these variables may itself be a function of a set of underlying second-tier variables, including actor-specific characteristics of the decision-maker, the institutional environment, and the natural and socio-economic environment. Within this framework, we specify barriers and opportunities for effective adaptation planning as hampering or promoting characteristics of these first- and second-tier variables. We apply and test the framework within the context of four case studies carried out in Lima (Peru), Santiago (Chile), Berlin and Sangerhausen (both Germany). We present anecdotal evidence, which we have gained from expert interviews in the cities. Our results indicate that the relevant categories of barriers are mainly the same across developing and developed countries. What differs is their severity. Moreover, we confirm the importance of the institutional context, including barriers and opportunities associated mainstreaming adaptation, multi-level governance and participation. Finally, our analysis reveals barriers that are specific for local or urban adaptation action, such as the strong dependency on the national regulatory framework.

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Notes

  1. We apply a relatively broad concept of “barriers”, which may be both insurmountable (often called “limits”) or mutable (often referred to as “barriers” in the narrower sense) (Adger et al. 2007, 2009).

  2. An alternative approach to framing barriers may be based on understanding adaptation as a process (see, for example, Arnell and Delaney 2006; Berkhout et al. 2006; Moser and Ekstrom 2010).

  3. A quite similar distinction is made by Reser and Swim (2011).

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for helpful and constructive comments provided by three anonymous referees. Our paper has also benefited from discussions at seminars held at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ in Leipzig (Germany) and the Chameleon Workshop on Barriers to Adaptation to Climate Change organized in Berlin (Germany) in September 2012. Research for this paper has been carried out in the context of (1) the project “Sustainable Water and Wastewater Management in Urban Growth Centres Coping with Climate Change – Concepts for Lima Metropolitana (Perú) – (LiWa)” funded by programme “Research for the Sustainable Development of the Megacities of Tomorrow” of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (Paul Lehmann), (2) the project “Entscheidungsunterstützung bei der urbanen Klimaanpassung – Ökonomische Bewertung und Priorisierung von Anpassungsmaßnahmen am Beispiel der Stadt Sangerhausen, Landkreis Mansfeld-Südharz” funded by the Saxony-Anhalt State Ministry for Agriculture and the Environment (Miriam Brenck and Oliver Gebhardt), (3) the project “Climate Adaptation Santiago (CAS)” funded by the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) (Sven Schaller), and (4) the Helmholtz Interdisciplinary Graduate School for Environmental Research (HIGRADE) funded by the Helmholtz Impulse and Networking Fund (Elisabeth Süßbauer).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Paul Lehmann, Miriam Brenck & Oliver Gebhardt

  2. DBFZ Deutsches Biomasserforschungszentrum, Leipzig, Germany

    Sven Schaller

  3. Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, Leipzig, Germany

    Elisabeth Süßbauer

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  1. Paul Lehmann
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Correspondence to Paul Lehmann.

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Lehmann, P., Brenck, M., Gebhardt, O. et al. Barriers and opportunities for urban adaptation planning: analytical framework and evidence from cities in Latin America and Germany. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 20, 75–97 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-013-9480-0

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