StaKliBo – Activation of the ground cooling capacity for urban climatic concepts for climate adaptation using the example of the city of Neuss

Background and Goals

One of the less well-publicized ways of counteracting the increasing urban overheating caused by climate change is the protection or restoration and the targeted use of the cooling function of the soil. The natural cooling capacity of soils is greatly reduced by sealing, groundwater subsidence and soil changes in many cities. The empirical recording (measurements, modeling, GIS analyzes) of the relationships between soil conditions, water availability and vegetation and the cold air formation potential (cooling capacity) should form the basis for a climatic soil concept and a soil management system. These should be integrated in the project under the topic of adaptation to climate change in sustainable urban planning.
The results as well as the methods are transferable to other cities and can serve as a model for the integration of the great potentials of existing or to meliorative ground cooling performance in urban planning adaptation concepts.

Steps in the process of adaptation to climate change

Step 4: Plan and implement measures

Measures and/or strategies

For the urban soil concept, climatically relevant areas were categorized according to their soil parameters. From this, protection zones in which the good cooling performance of the existing soils and green design is preserved, and redevelopment zones in which an improvement of the cooling performance by changing the soil properties must be achieved, have been identified.
The floor concept should serve as a basis for planning and political decisions. For example, the floor concept can be used as a binding input into open space planning.
The design of the climatically relevant areas with a cooling potential was specified by a developed soil management system. Here the insights from the test fields with implementation of various (soil) improvement measures flowed in.
The integration of soil improvement measures in terms of relevance to climate adaptation in planning processes (for example, land improvement as a recognized compensatory measure in construction projects) was the objective of the land management system. Efforts have been made to extend the catalog of possible compensatory measures through measures to improve the cooling performance of soils (soil structure improvement by application of natural soil, improvement of rooting, irrigation, ...).

StaKliBo – Activation of the ground cooling capacity for urban climatic concepts for climate adaptation using the example of the city of Neuss | Umweltbundesamt