Technological

The Urban Micro-Lungs is an Urban Living Lab project in the East of Amman, Jordan that applies the Miyawaki methodology for afforestation to create new green spaces. As part of the project special urban forests were created with the aim to improve the quality of life in dense and deprived urban areas, tackle climate change caused problems such as the urban heat island effect while also supporting local biodiversity. The project was initiated by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and the Greater Amman Municipality, TAYYUN Research Studio (1,3,4). While the project was just completed in 2021, "the Urban Living Lab has shown the feasibility of creating green spaces even in adverse conditions characterised by dense construction, high degree of surface sealing and lack of open spaces." (1)

The Sustainable Residential Complex project was a measure taken by the city of Dubai, one of the largest city ecological footprints, with a goal to reduce it to the smallest ecological footprint by 2050. For the past two decades, the UAE government has made an effort to lower its own dependency on fossil fuels, shifting toward more environmentally-friendly sources to power its cities. The sustainable residential complex development project is one of the few initiatives taken by the city administration of Dubai under Vision 2021. Located just outside Dubai the area is the first operational net-zero energy residential complex in Dubai. [1, 2]

The City of Fort Collins is "taking steps to restore flows, fish passage, and ecological function" of Colorado's Cache la Poudre River (Ref. 6). The river was "heavily manipulated for irrigation and mining" throughout the early 20th century (Ref. 6), and today continues subject to the impacts of gravel mining, agriculture and urbanisation (Ref. 1). Regional climate change predictions further complicate our ability "to understand how the river’s hydrology and ecology may respond to warming climate scenarios" (Ref. 1).
The City of Fort Collins was, therefore "invested heavily in this urban river through extensive planning efforts, purchase of approximately 700 hectares of lands within the river’s floodplain, projects to address stormwater control and conveyance, water quality management, and acquisition of in-stream flow water rights", and in 2011, the City’s Natural Areas Department published the Cache la Poudre River Natural Areas Management Plan which outlined "opportunities and challenges in supporting the river’s ecological function and reducing risks to life and property during significant flood events", particularly through the implementation of nature-based solutions (Ref. 1). A suite of nature-based solutions has since been proposed and implemented by the City of Fort Collins, two of which are the Sterling Pond Ecological Restoration (also referred to as North Shields Ponds), and the McMurry Natural Area Ecological Restoration (Refs. 1 and 2).

Campinas is a fast-growing city and like many cities in Brazil, it confronts itself with many climatic incidents linked to a hotter and drier climate. In Campinas, in spite of the good performance of the city and the region in economic areas, there is a historical lack of urban landscape planning that integrates adequate social housing and areas that should be protected, such as riparian corridors, ecosystem remnants and other relevant green areas that offer ecosystem services in the urbanised context. Campinas has developed plans, projects and programmes to tackle regional, municipal and local issues related to environmental quality and offer green areas to the least privileged residents. Ecological corridors are being designed to connect forested fragments and/or relevant ecological areas to enable the genetic flow. The municipal green plan adopted the concept of a connectivity line to promote ecological corridors. (1,2)

Ecosystem-based adaptation planning in Osh will support the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic in establishing its National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process and is consistent with the government’s strategic vision for climate change adaptation. Additionally, this project also contributes to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and UNDP’s objectives by increasing resilience for the most vulnerable people, communities, and regions, by strengthening institutional and regulatory systems for climate-responsive planning and development, and by strengthening adaptive capacity and reducing exposure to climate risks. The priority sectors for the project are: (1) disaster and emergency management; (2) health; (3) biodiversity conservation; (4) and agriculture and irrigation water. The relevant agencies and stakeholders of these four sectors will be key to ensuring these plans catalyse investments to enhance adaptive capacity in the city. [1, 2]

Around 90% of Guyana’s population lives in an area that is below sea level, with many inhabiting flood-prone areas along the coast. The coastal plains are also home to about 75% of the country’s economic activities, including almost all of Guyana’s agricultural production. Over the years, degradation and loss of mangrove forests have resulted in increased coastal flooding and saltwater inundation of agricultural land. Mangroves contribute substantially to sea defence in Guyana by damping wave action and reducing wave energy, trapping sediments and stabilizing shoreline substrates while playing an important role in carbon sequestration.
The Guyana Mangrove Restoration Project was executed during 2010-2013 under the National Agricultural Research & Extension Institute. Following completion of the Project phase and given the importance of mangroves to Guyana’s coastal defences, mangrove restoration and management were integrated into NAREI (the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute), a national institution that promotes climate-smart agriculture and resilient citizens. (1,2)

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s coastal zone stretches 40 km and comprises the towns of Muanda, Banana and Nsiamfumu. The problem of coastal erosion has intensified since 1980 with the significant retreat of the coast in the Banana-Muanda segment, this retreat has been estimated as much as 2,300 meters. According to the report of the second national communication on climate change (2010), the Democratic Republic of Congo’s coastal zone, with a coastline of about 40km, is facing coastal erosion due to a combined effect of topography, sandy nature of the soil and ocean dynamics (height and direction of the swell, tide height, current velocity, storms etc.). With the rate of shoreline retreat that is likely, it is expected that the road between Banana-Muanda will be completely lost between 2050 and 2100. The proportion of lands lost to encroaching sea will double (200 m around Nsiamfumu and 100 m between Muanda city and Banana). In total, DRC can expect to see the reach of its coastal zone reduced from 50-100 m by 2100. To respond to some of these complex challenges the Department of Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism, Democratic Republic of Congo implemented the present intervention partnering with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). (1,2)

Douala is the economic capital of Cameroon and one of its largest cities. The city is located on the banks of the Wouri River (hence a port city) and its climate is tropical. The marine and coastal biodiversity of Cameroon is rich and diverse, and it is highly endangered because of human activities including artisanal and industrial fishing and pollution generated from industries, accidental loss of crude oil in transit or during loading or unloading. In Douala, thousands of inhabitants have settled in and around the mangrove swamps, destroying the mangrove ecosystem and endangering biodiversity including snakes, birds, fish, trees and frogs. Biodiversity studies are rare, and even if they exist, they are done in part and do not give an overview of the real state of biodiversity in the city. The city of Douala is full of many ecosystems of various natures (micro-ecosystems), each of which has species adapted to the environment. Besides this, Douala confronts itself with seasonal flooding and high temperatures due to climate change. In response to some of these challenges, a local entity, the Association of academics and researchers for Biodiversity conservation, initiated in 2020 an action that focused on environmental education and biodiversity conservation. The initiative also provides a framework for reflection and exchange on biodiversity issues. (1,3,4)

The Anderson Road Quarry, once a vacant 40-hectare site is getting transformed into a sustainable residential neighbourhood while ensuring climate resiliency and low environmental impact in Hong Kong. The site will supply housing for 25,000 people. In addition to this, the city is employing a wide array of adaptive and resilient approaches including saving around 3,000 metric tons of CO2 annually, helping the city live up to its 65% to 75% carbon reduction goal by 2030 set in Hong Kong Climate Action Plan. [1]

Located in the heart of Hung Phu, a new urban area within Can Tho, K-Villa+ has been designed to "mak[e] the most of open and harmonious space[s] with nature, using green design solutions to improve bioclimatic comfort for users, while respecting sustainable values ​​and being friendly to the living environment" (Ref. 5). The low construction density of the building project has been coupled with prioritisation and installation of green areas both on the building itself and in the surrounding ground; permeable coverings to increase water percolation, and landscaping with native and climate-adapted trees and plants (Refs. 1 & 5.) An ecological pond has further been included in the landscaping of the villa's grounds and a rainwater harvesting system has been installed (Ref. 3). Through the application of these green design solutions, the urban heat island is considered to be reduced and bioclimate improved for those within the building, and biodiversity promoted through the planting of a variety of native species (Refs. 1, 2, 3 & 5).

Note that due to a lack of data, the exact point location of the villa is not depicted in the map below, but rather the new urban district, Hung Phu, in which the villa sits.