Mark Fleischhauer

A Methodology for an integrated risk assessment of spatially relevant hazards

Abstract Natural and technological disasters of the past have shown that such incidences significantly affect local and regional development. Faced with the task of ensuring economic, human and environmental development as well as insuring physical structures, planning authorities, insurance companies and emergency managers are looking for methodologies to identify highly sensitive areas in terms of their overall risk. Existing methodologies like the Natural Hazard Index for Megacities or the Total Place Vulnerability Index have limitations due to their sectoral approach, which makes them less useful for integrated spatial planning. This paper presents the Integrated Risk Assessment of Multi-Hazards as a new approach to serve as a basis for a spatial risk management process. The approach integrates various hazards into an integrated hazard map, combines this with the regions vulnerability and thus produces an integrated risk map. Moreover, the methodology offers a tool to derive weighting factors for hazards as well as for vulnerability components.

Management of natural hazards in Europe: The role of spatial planning in selected EU member states

Abstract This paper presents the results of an assessment made as a part of the research project, Applied Multi-Risk Mapping of Natural Hazards for Impact Assessment (ARMONIA). The aim was to identify which aspects in the so-called disaster management cycle are covered by spatial planning in planning practice in the European Unions member states of Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK. In contrast to the initial hypothesis, the analysis of planning practice has shown that the role of spatial planning in risk assessment and management in many ways has been overestimated. The results have shown that spatial planning is only one of many actors in risk management and that it is, in general, not involved in risk assessment. Further, multi-risk assessment approaches are not used in planning practice, risk indicators are hardly used and vulnerability indicators are not at all used. The paper will interpret these surprising results and will answer the question of the role of spatial planning in natural risk assessment and management.

National Climate Change Adaptation Strategies of European States from a Spatial Planning and Development Perspective

The aim of this article is to give an overview and systematic characterization of different national approaches to developing strategies of climate change adaptation from a spatial planning or regional development perspective, respectively. Based on this analysis, recommendations are made for the implementation of the Territorial Agenda of the European Union. The central research hypotheses addressed in this article are: (1) climate change impacts in Europe are distributed differently in European regions which influence the design of national adaptation strategies (NASs) in Europe as well as the planning-related fields of action; (2) the legal framework and the political-administrative system significantly determine how national adaptation responses are designed and by which institutions they are implemented and (3) spatial planning has the potential to play an important role in climate change adaptation due to its integrative, cross-sectoral character. In order to discuss the hypotheses, a meta-evaluation of already existing assessments of climate adaptation strategies was carried out, as well as nine in-depth country studies (Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Spain, The Netherlands and the UK). The results show that spatial planning is only given minor attention in the assessed analyses and national strategies and that it is rather a matter of political willingness and capacity building than particular instruments or a high climate change vulnerability if spatial planning, however, plays an important role in an NAS.

The Role of Spatial Planning in Strengthening Urban Resilience

This article explores the challenges for dealing with risks from a spatial planning perspective. It points at the role spatial planning can play in mitigating multihazards by influencing urban structures and thus strengthening urban resilience. However, it also shows the limits of spatial planning and calls for an integrated approach including a variety of authorities to dealing with multihazards.

Anpassungsstrategien der Raumentwicklung an den Klimawandel: "Climate Proofing" - Konturen eines neuen Instruments

KurzfassungDer Klimawandel stellt neue Herausforderungen an die räumliche Planung, Pläne, Programme und Raumentwicklungsaktivitäten. Wie aber lassen sich die Folgen des Klimawandels und die notwendigen Anpassungsstrategien abschätzen und bereits heute in Programme und Pläne integrieren? Ein Schlagwort bzw. Konzept in der heutigen Diskussion ist „Climate Proofing”, welches die Zielsetzung verfolgt, Pläne und Programme an den Anforderungen auszurichten, die sich aus dem Klimawandel ergeben. Was aber bedeutet Climate Proofing genau? Neben einer Analyse der bisherigen Konzepte unter dem Stichwort Anpassung und Climate Proofing wird der Beitrag auch einen konzeptionellen Rahmen präsentieren, der aufzeigt, wie man zielgerichtet Climate Proofing entwickeln sollte. Dabei werden auch wesentliche Unterschiede zu bisherigen Verträglichkeitsprüfungen (z. B. UVP/SUP) erläutert. Insgesamt wird der Frage nachgegangen, welche inhaltlichen und konzeptionellen Eckpunkte und Konturen ein „Climate Proofing” für die Anpassung der Raumentwicklung an den Klimawandel aufweisen sollte.AbstractClimate change means new challenges for spatial planning, plans and programmes and spatial development activities as well. How can climate change impacts and adaptation strategies be assessed and integrated into plans and programmes already today? A buzzword that appears in the latest discussions and concepts is the idea of “climate proofing” that aims at adapting plans and programmes to the future impacts of a changing climate. However, what does “climate proofing” exactly mean? Apart from an analysis of existing concepts for adaptation and climate proofing this article presents a conceptual framework on how the idea of climate proofing can be specifically developed and how it differs from existing impact assessments (e.g. EIA/SEA). The overall question is which contents and conceptual key points shall be featured by a climate proofing approach for the adaptation of spatial development to climate change.

Klimawandel und Raumplanung

KurzfassungDer Zusammenhang zwischen Klimawandel und Raumplanung hat zwei Dimensionen. Zum einen kann Raumplanung einen Beitrag zum Klimaschutz, also zur Verringerung von Treibhausgasemissionen leisten. Andererseits kommt der Raumplanung auch im Bereich der Anpassung an die Folgen von Klimaänderungen eine bedeutende Aufgabe zu. In diesem Beitrag wird untersucht, welche Rolle Raumordnung und Bauleitplanung beim Klimaschutz und bei der Anpassung an die Folgen des Klimawandels einnehmen können.AbstractClimate change and spatial planning are connected in two ways. On the one hand, spatial planning can contribute to mitigating climate change, i.e. to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, spatial planning also plays an important role in the adaptation to climate change impacts. This article examines by the example of Germany the potential role regional and land-use planning can play in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

A consensus based vulnerability assessment to climate change in Germany

Purpose – This paper aims to propose a collaborative approach toward an integrated vulnerability assessment to climate change in Germany that attempts to bridge the gap between scientific output and policy demand. Design/methodology/approach – Conceptually, the approach follows the definition of vulnerability as used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but it has modified this basic concept. It clearly distinguishes between three time slices (presence, near and remote future) not only regarding the change in the climatic conditions but also socio-economic development trends. Findings – The paper concentrates on the selected methodological framework, the collaborative research design and those preliminary results of the nationwide vulnerability assessment that are transferable to other settings. Practical implications – A Vulnerability Network (“Netzwerk Vulnerabilitaet”) emerged from an applied research project commissioned under the Adaptation Action Plan of the German Strategy for Adaptati...

Developments and Drawbacks in Critical Infrastructure and Regional Planning: A Case Study on Region of Cologne, Germany

Critical infrastructures (CIs) are of a dual character: they are a protection good that can be adversely affected by a threat, but at the same time, some infrastructure categories are dangerous in their own right. Because it integrates collaboration and decision-making on how space should be used, spatial planning is an important process in development of CI. Risk management utilizing spatial planning includes analysis and management tools that have a spatial and place-based context. In Germany, CI deserves protection as laid down in the Federal Regional Planning Act. This research paper starts from the hypothesis that regional planning is obligated to take the physical component of CI and its susceptibility against various threats into account. However, the administrative boundaries that define a region in this context is not the appropriate level of analysis for assessing the systemic criticality of CI which is up to territorial levels that consider an entire infrastructure network and to individual project approval procedures. The paper discusses the role of regional planning for the protection of CI by the example of the Region of Cologne, Germany. This research was collaborative in nature carried out between a scientific partner and the Region of Cologne that served as a so-called model region for “co-production of knowledge”. The role of science in this context is problematic because science cannot give a proof of normative aspects like the intended level of acceptable risk or the importance of the protection of CI. Science in this context is inconclusive. Thus, there was a need to involve all those experts of the regional administration that are legally responsible or involved in the assessment of risks and management of land. Throughout the project, this included representatives from the divisions of regional planning, natural protection, water management, immission control and crisis management. The entire team of researchers and practitioners came to an agreement on the various normative decisions, for example, concerning the research approach or the definition of susceptibility indicators. This collaborative approach, which is principally applicable in other regions in Germany as well, guarantees for applicability of planning decisions on the ground. Finally, using results from a GIS-based risk assessment demonstrated how regional spatial planning takes CI into account. The assessment results will be used by the administration of the Region of Cologne for the Environmental Report to be prepared for the new regional plan.

A methodological concept for territorial impact assessment applied to three EU environmental policy elements

EU policies require either impact assessment or evaluation, depending on the character of the policy elements. A relatively new requirement is the need to assess the territorial impacts of a policy as proposed in the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) and promoted by the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON) 2006 programme. Territorial impact assessment (TIA) is defined as “a tool for assessing the impact of spatial development against spatial policy objectives or prospects for an area” (European Communities 2000). This paper summarises and further develops basic work on TIA and presents a methodological concept and the first results of such a TIA approach, applying it to EU environmental policy (civil protection, water, biodiversity).KurzfassungFür EU-Politiken sind entweder Wirkungseinschätzungen oder aber Evaluationen vorgeschrieben, je nach Gegenstand der Politik. Relativ neu ist die Vorgabe, die räumlichen Auswirkungen einer Politik abzuschätzen, wie es im Europäischen Raumentwicklungskonzept (EUREK) vorgeschlagen und vom ESPON 2006 Programm unterstützt wurde. Derartige Raumwirksamkeitseinschätzungen sollen dazu dienen, die voraussichtlichen Auswirkungen einer Politik auf die Entwicklung von Räumen zu ermitteln, und zwar mit Blick auf raumordnungspolitische Zielsetzungen oder deren Zukunftsaussichten (European Communities 2000). Der Beitrag beschreibt die Grundlagen von Raumwirksamkeitseinschätzungen und entwickelt sie weiter. Er stellt einen methodischen Ansatz und erste Anwendungsergebnisse vor, und zwar am Beispiel der EU-Umweltpolitikbereiche Zivilschutz, Wasser und Biodiversität.

Analyse der Literatur zu Klimawirkungen in Deutschland: ein Gesamtbild mit Lücken

Dieses Kapitel prasentiert Ergebnisse einer umfassenden Literaturauswertung zu relevanten Klimawirkungen fur Deutschland, die im Rahmen des Projekts „Netzwerk Vulnerabilitat“ vorgenommen wurde. Es zeigt auf, dass ein aggregiertes Gesamtbild der Klimawirkungen fur Deutschland als Grundlage fur Folgenabschatzungen und Anpassungsplanungen noch nicht gezeichnet werden kann, da eine grose Bandbreite an Ansatzen zur Bewertung von Vulnerabilitaten oder Klimawandelfolgen existiert und die gegenwartig vorhandenen Klimawirkungs- und Vulnerabilitatsstudien von groser Heterogenitat gekennzeichnet sind. Als erster Schritt wird deshalb eine Zusammenschau bereits vorhandener Ansatze geliefert.