Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Resource Economics

PolyGreen

Polycentric adaptation through spatially heterogeneous urban Green

Start: 05/2016
End: 03/2017
 

With the PolyGreen project, the Resource Economics Group contributes to the EU proposal Re/Imagine, which focusses on “Nature-based solutions for inclusive urban regeneration.” Re/Imagine pools the expertise of different research disciplines and international partners with the aim to develop pan-European, interdisciplinary, applicable and replicable results.

Cities and their residents will be heavily affected by projected climate-change related rising temperatures, changing weather patterns, and increases in frequency of extreme weather events. These climate alterations also exacerbate the Urban Heat Island Effect, which causes air temperatures to be up to 10°C warmer in cities than in nearby suburban or rural areas. Promoting a sustainable adaptation to a changing climate, nature-based solutions have emerged as a promising research area. However, research projects have mainly focussed on municipal parks, urban road greening and private gardens. PolyGreen is breaking new grounds by exploring chances and limitations of urban climate adaptation through spatially heterogeneous greening interventions, for example, on balconies or terraces. This novel approach requires interdisciplinarity: the Resource Economics Group is collaborating with the Geography Department of Humboldt University in order to identify economies of scale through the ecological connectivity of diverse green spaces and collective action of private households. The team evaluates whether private urban greening measures are a) feasible from a social-scientific perspective; b) ecologically functional; and c) affect the urban climate?

Within the Re/Imagine project, the expertise and research focus of the Resource Economics Group center around the assessment of urban greening as a collective climate adaptation option for urban residents. The overall objective is to foster the inclusion of private individuals and households in the development of a greener and more resilient urban landscape. This bottom-up approach contrasts with the traditionally practiced and more frequently researched top-down approaches of municipalities. Central research questions are: How can citizens be motivated to interact and engage in climate adaptation collectively through nature-based solutions? Which incentives and platforms of social cooperation are most efficient?

Researchers:

  • Dr. Matteo Roggero (Resource Economics Group)
  • Prof. Dr. Klaus Eisenack (Resource Economics Group)
  • Patrick Lutz (Resource Economics Group)
  • Anke Wolff (Resource Economics Group)
  • Prof. Dr. Dagmar Haase (Geography Department)
  • Manuel Wolff (Geography Department)

Project Partners:

Re/Imagine: Dutch Research Institute for Transitions (DRIFT), Helmholtz Centre for 
Environmental Research – UFZ, International Union for Conservation of Nature – IUCN, Universidade da Coruña, etc.

Lead Overall Project: Prof. Dr. Klaus Eisenack

Funding: BMBF

Central Achievements:

Roggero, Matteo. 2019. ‘Social Dilemmas, Policy Instruments, and Climate Adaptation Measures: The Case of Green Roofs’. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-019-09883-4.