CDC Book II 2

Connecting
Delta Cities
S H A R I N G K N OW L E D G E A N D WO R K I N G O N A DA P TAT I O N
TO C L I MAT E C H A N G E
S H A R I N G K N OW L E D G E A N D WO R K I N G O N A DA P TAT I O N
TO C L I MAT E C H A N G E
Connecting
Delta Cities
P I E T D I R C K E , Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences

J E R O E N A E R T S , VU University Amsterdam
A R N O U D M O L E N A A R , City of Rotterdam
Colophon
Authors
We would like to thank all the authors who
contributed to this second CDC book and others that
helped us to make this a success. In particular we
would like to thank:
Alex Nickson (Greater London Authority), David
Waggonner (Waggonner & Ball Architects), Andy
Sternad (Waggonner & Ball Architects), Philip Ward
(VU University Amsterdam), Muh Aris Marfai (Faculty
of Geography, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta),
Aisa Tobing (Governors Office, Jakarta), Pieter
Pauw (VU University Amsterdam), Maria Francesch
(City University of Hong Kong), Bianca Stalenberg
(ARCADIS | Delft Technical University), Yoshito
Kikumori (Japan National Institute for Land
and Infrastructure Management), Philip Bubeck
(VU University Amsterdam) and Professor
Ho Long Phi (HCMC University of Technology
(National University HCMC).
Chapters 1 and 3 of this second CDC book are largely
based on the material on the same topics (climate
adaptation in general and New York City) that were
presented in the first CDC book. Most of the work
on these topics in the first CDC book was carried
out by David Major of Columbia University and
Malcolm Bowman of Stonybrook University. David
and Malcolm as well, and their respective universities,
contributed significantly to the success of the first
CDC book.
Sponsors
This book has been sponsored by the City of
Rotterdam, the Rotterdam Climate Proof Initiative,
VU University Amsterdam, Rotterdam University of
CONNECTING DELTA CITIES
Applied Sciences and ARCADIS. The Connecting Delta

Cities network has been addressed as a joint action
under the C40 initiative, a group of the worlds largest
cities and a number of affiliated cities committed to
taking action on climate change. For more information
on these initiatives and their relation to Connecting
Delta Cities, see: www.deltacities.com.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the generous support and
participation of Jim Hall (Tyndall Centre for Climate
Change Research, Newcastle University), Roger Street
(United Kingdom Climate Impacts Programme),
Shoichi Fujita (Nagaoka University of Technology,
Japan), HCMC University of Technology (National
University HCMC) and Darryn McEvoy (Victorian Centre
for Climate Change Adaptation Research, Melbourne).
We would also like to thank everyone who contributed
in so many ways to make this second Connecting
Delta Cities book a success. In particular we would
like to thank Kim van den Berg, Gertjan Jobse, Jeanna
Blatt, Chantal Oudkerk Pool, Lissy Nijhuis, Liek Voorbij,
Rick Heikoop, Marijn Kuitert and Marco van Bodegom
(Beau-Design) for their support.
Copyright 2010 City of Rotterdam / ISBN 978-90-816067-1-4

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise
without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.
Contents
Colophon
Preface
4
10
1. Climate change in delta cities

1.1 Introduction
1.2 A changing global environment
12
14
16
9
20
21
2. Introducing CDC
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The CDC networkk in practice
23
3. Rotterdam
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Present situation
3.3 Climate and flood
fl
risks
3.4 Climate adaptation
3.5 Rotterdam adaptation strategy
28
29
31
32
37
44
4. New York
4.1 Introduction
4.3 Climate and flood
fl
risks
46
47
50
51
55
5. Jakarta
5.1 Introduction
5.3 Climate and flood risks
60
61
63
65
67
6. London
6.1 Introduction
6.5 From strategy to delivery
72
73
75
76
79
81
7. New Orleans
7.1 Introduction
86
87
89
93
97
8. Hong Kong 100

8.1 Introduction 101
8.2 Present situation 103
8.3 Climate and flood risks 105
8.4 Climate adaptation 109
9. Tokyo 114
9.2 Present situation 117
9.3 Climate and flood risks 119
9.4 Climate adaptation 123
10. Ho Chi Minh City
10.1 Introduction
126
127
129
131
135
11. Conclusions on best

CDC practices 138
11.2 Best practices 140
11.3 Future outlook 146
References
6
154
Preface
D. Miller
A. Aboutaleb
The world is currently facing a new challenge. Climate

change will have a severe and inevitable impact, even
if we do succeed in substantially reducing its causes
and mitigating its effects. Water levels will rise, both in
the seas and in the rivers that run through our cities.
Precipitation levels will increase, and groundwater
levels will change. Preventing or limiting ensuing
damage will require a great deal of effort.
The delta cities described in this book are thoroughly
aware of the necessity to step up these efforts.
Courage and leadership is required on the part of local
government to make decisions now that will fill our
children with pride in the future; and to take measures
to provide safety to our residents and to preserve the
economic appeal of our cities.
Of at least equal importance as decisive management
and leadership is the availability of scientific
knowledge. Certain measures that are needed fall
outside the scope of our current technological
ingenuity. Sharing and exchanging insights and
experiences with projects in the area of water
management and delta technology will contribute
to the development of the necessary new expertise.
It gives us great satisfaction to observe that, more
and more, cities are willing and prepared to share
knowledge and opportunities for improvement.
Rather than copying the insights that are gained,
other delta cities subsequently apply adapted versions
according to their own situation. This allows individual
cities to define ambitious goals and actually realize
them. It is for this reason that Rotterdam can state with
confidence that by 2025, the city will be fully climate
proof.
This book is a sequel on the first Connecting Delta

Cities book and builds a bridge between delta cities of
global stature: New York, Jakarta, Rotterdam, London,
New Orleans, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Ho Chi Minh
City. These are just eight of the dozens of cities on this
earth that are confronted with the major challenge of
developing integrated climate adaptation strategies.
Each of these cities grapples with its own problems
and devises its own solutions. What binds these
cities, however, is their common determination to
win this fight and to become delta cities of the future;
sustainable and climate proof.
Hosts of the International Conference Deltas in Times
of Climate Change, Rotterdam, 29 September 2010:
A. Aboutaleb
Mayor of Rotterdam,
The Netherlands
D. Miller
Chairman C40 and Mayor of Toronto,
Canada
11
Climate change
in delta cities
by Jeroen Aerts and Piet Dircke
13
Introduction
1
Currently, more than half of the worlds population
lives in cities, especially in vulnerable delta cities. It
is estimated that more than two thirds of the worlds
large cities will be vulnerable to rising sea levels and
climate change, with millions of people being exposed
to the risk of extreme floods and storms. By the middle
of this century, the majority of the worlds population
will live in cities in or near deltas, estuaries or coastal
zones, resulting in even more people living in highly
exposed areas. Such socioeconomic trends further
amplify the possible consequences of future floods,
as more people move toward urban delta areas and
capital is continuously invested in ports, industrial
centres and financial businesses in flood-prone areas.
It is also expected that the frequency, intensity and
duration of extreme precipitation events will increase,
as well as the frequency and duration of droughts.
At the same time, many delta cities suffer from

severe land subsidence. As a consequence of these
urban developments, trends and projections for land
subsidence and climate change, the vulnerability of
our delta cities is expected to increase in the decades
to come.G1, G2
The issue of climate adaptation is very complex, and
there is no single readily available adaptation solution
applicable to all delta cities. Adaptation is partly a
matter of learning by doing of allowing experiments
and innovation. On the other hand, there is the need
to keep all options open because of the uncertainty
of future scenarios one can never predict exactly
how the future will develop and what measures will
be needed. Hence, climate-robust and flexible, noregret or low-regret measures should be considered.
In addition, complicated issues like policy making,
stakeholder involvement and financing new measures
may hinder the speedy implementation of adaptation
measures, and may cut ambitious plans to more
modest levels. It is therefore important to consider a
variety of possible measures in the planning process of
climate adaptation, and to learn from the experiences
of other areas and coastal cities.
Cities play an important role in the climate adaptation
process since they have already developed the ability
to adapt continuously to change and attract economic
activity and investment. One could say cities have
already been adapting to changing conditions for
many years or even centuries, and climate change is
an additional challenge that needs to be addressed
in cities planning, investments and regulations.
Many cities are gradually taking on the issue of
climate adaptation and there is a growing interest in
sharing and exchanging experience and knowledge

between cities. Since the choices made today will
influence
fl
vulnerability to climate risks in the future, it
is important to linkk adaptation measures to ongoing
investments in infrastructure and spatial planning,
and to draw up detailed estimates off the benefits
fi
off adaptation. In this way, adaptation becomes a
challenge rather than a threat, and climate adaptation
may initiate opportunities and innovations for
investors and spatial planners.
adaptation paths that may diff

ffer, sometimes
substantially, each city can learn from other cities.
Moreover, while this bookk focuses largerly on coastal
fl
flooding,
it is important to note that each off the CDC
cities is also affected
ff
by climate change in other ways,
including impacts that occur away from the coast.
This bookk explores the different

ff
aspects off climate
adaptation in delta cities. It is an investigation of
comparable adaptation challenges and opportunities
and off progress in adaptation plans and investments
in the eight Connecting Delta Cities (CDC) cities of
Rotterdam, New York, Jakarta, London, New Orleans,
Hong Kong, Tokyo and Ho Chi Minh City. Other climate
adaptation networks like The Delta Alliance and recent
climate adaptation initiatives and events such as these
in Melbourne and Shanghai are also described in the
book.
The bookk is second in a series off CDC books. The first
fi
CDC book, launched during the Henry Hudson 400
celebrations in New York, was published in 2009 and
described climate adaptation in New York, Rotterdam
and Jakarta. A third CDC bookk is expected to cover the
implementation off climate adaptation strategies.
This second bookk focuses on the expanding
Connecting Delta Cities networkk and the experiences
off coastal cities on the topic off climate adaptation
and flood
fl
risk. In this regard, each city faces different
ff
challenges. One off the lessons off the Connecting
Delta Cities initiative is that while cities will follow
Figure 1.1 The first
fi Connecting Delta Cities book.
CLIMATE CHANGE IN DELTA CITIES
15
A changing global
environmentt
The IPCC fourth Assessment Report states that it is

inevitable that flood
fl
risks and other climate change
impacts will continue to increase, and that adaptation
measures and policies need to be developed parallel
G3
to mitigation efforts.
ff
The question is not if, but how
quickly societies and cities will need to adapt.
Adaptation to changing climatic and socioeconomic
conditions is not new; cities have been adapting to
societal and environmental changes for centuries.
However, the world off today is much more complex
than it was in the past, and interventions taken
to adapt to climate change in one sector have
significant
fi
impacts on other economic sectors and
on the environment. Adaptation to climate change,
therefore, requires a holistic approach, where all
sectors and stakeholders participate in order to
include long-term adaptation planning in their daily
operations.
Existing climate policy documents state that longterm planning is the key to successful adaptation.
Eff
ffective land use planning is crucial for enhancing
the cities adaptive capacities to climate change.
The role off stakeholders in the development
and implementation off adaptation measures is
a key ingredient. Eff
ffective adaptation requires
the local implementation off measures, and
requires collaborating with NGOs to improve
interrelationships with local institutions.
A participative approach ensures that stakeholders
can express their objectives, concerns and visions,
and stimulates the development and implementation
off innovative ideas in the adaptation process. An
adaptation process also increases the commitment of
stakeholders to ensure new measures are accepted
and implemented.
The development off adaptation strategies that focus

on opportunities, and that are based on a holistic
approach, requires strong leadership because it is
about more than just taking measures. Its about a
long-term strategy as a frameworkk for short-term
action, a joint approach and vision development.
The significance
fi
off cities and municipalities in climate
change adaptation is increasing because climate
adaptation requires tailor made local measures
in which urban planning plays an important role.
Coastal mega-cities are influential
fl
and important for
sustaining the environment in which their citizens
live. Therefore it makes sense to have a CDC network.
In international forums, like the WWF World Water
forum, the cities appear more and more prominently
on the agenda (e.g. the WWF city summit and
champion cities network); not only when it comes to
local water management and climate change issues,

but also in the specific
fi approach and steering of
global issues. Thinkk global and act local is more and
more a reality. Also in this sense, the CDC can become
a powerful network.
Urban development
Population growth and, as a consequence, urban
development, has an enormous impact on land use.
Studies carried out to assess the effects
ff
off population
growth and land use change in the lower Netherlands
show that flood
fl
risks have increased by a factor of
seven over the last fifty years due to urbanization and
land use change. Thus, even without climate change,
flood riskk in urbanized deltas will increase simply
because residents and businesses continue to settle
in vulnerable locations.
Furthermore, research shows that by 2025, loss
potentials among the worlds ten largest cities are
projected to increase by at least 22 percent (Tokyo),
and up to more than 50 percent in Shanghai and
Jakarta. A repeat in the year 2025 off the floods
experienced in Jakarta in 2007 could cause
60 percent higher losses and affect
ff
20 percent more
people because off population and economic growth,
independent off climate change. Since economic
growth and urban development in these areas is
inevitable, and the economic impacts off climate
change may not be limited to the city boundaries
alone, rising sea levels could have devastating effects
ff
on the worldwide population and economic activity
in the future.
Climate change, subsidence and sea level rise
Sea level rise is a natural phenomenon, and historical
measurements in several delta cities such as New York
17
and Rotterdam, show an increase in mean sea level

rise off 17-22 cm over the last hundred years. Prior to
the Industrial Revolution, sea level rise in New York
and Rotterdam could be attributed mainly to regional
subsidence off the Earths crust, which is still slowly
readjusting to the melting off ice sheets since the end
off the last Ice Age.G4, G5 For New Yorkk and Rotterdam,
land subsidence accounts for 3-4 mm per year, mainly
due to these post-glacial geological processes. But
much higher subsidence rates occur as well. For
example in Jakarta parts off the city are sinking at a
rate off 4 cm per year, mainly due to groundwater
extraction.
Climate change, however, will accelerate natural
sea level rise through the thermal expansion off the
oceans, melting off glaciers and ice sheets, changes
in the accumulation off snow and melting off the
ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland. It may also
change the paths and speeds off major ocean
current systems. The Fourth Assessment Report of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change G6
projected an increase in global temperature of
between 1.1C and 6.4C over the next century.
As a result, average sea levels could rise by up to
59 cm by 2100.
There are regional differences
ff
in projected sea level
rise, and it is expected that sea levels in the northeast
off the Atlantic Ocean will rise by 15 cm more than the
world average by 2100. This can be explained through
the weakening off the warm Gulff Stream, gravitational
effects
ff
and the extra warming off seawater at greater
depths. The projected sea level rise for Rotterdam
and New York, for instance, is estimated at around
50-85 cm by 2100. The most extreme, low- probability,
scenarios indicate a sea level rise off 108-140 cm. Large

uncertainty exists about the future behaviour off the
large ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Although
it is not well understood how quickly the ice sheets
will melt, a theoretical collapse off the Greenland
and West and East Antarctica ice sheets through
accelerated glacier flow
fl
is expected to lead to a rise in
sea level off several metres over the coming centuries.
Flood risk
k vulnerability
Important elements off flood vulnerability are: (1) the
probability off a flood occurring and (2) the possible
consequences off a flood
fl
in terms off casualties, direct
economic damage (such as destruction off houses) and
intangible damage (such as production loss and loss
off natural values). Furthermore, flood
fl
vulnerability is
also determined by (3) the adaptive capacity off a city
or system following the event through evacuation,

recovery, financial aid and insurance relief options.
Estimates of flood risk and flood vulnerability can be
further disaggregated into vulnerability to coastal
floods, vulnerability to river floods and vulnerability
to extreme rainfall. In all three cases the impact can
be very high with numerous casualties and much
damage to property.
Extreme flood events are relatively rare, with typical
return periods of one hundred years and higher.
Extreme precipitation events in non-tropical cities
rarely cause casualties, but do frequently cause
damage to property and infrastructure. Tropical
cities like Hong Kong, however, have interested
historic events recorded where extreme rainfall has
caused flash flooding and mud flows, leading to
casualties and flood damage in parts of the cities.
It should be noted that vulnerability is not a static
concept. If flood protection is improved or evacuation
plans are developed, vulnerabilities can be reduced;
and, with expected advances in scientific modelling
and prediction of storms and storm surges, improved
warnings can be brought to bear in alerting
communities at risk and in managing evacuations.
Sea level rise alone may cause a presently one in a
hundred years flood event to occur approximately
four times more often by the end of the century.
Moreover, by the end of the 21st century, a current
500-year flood event may occur approximately once
every 200 years.G4
The amount of damage from a flood is dependent on,
among other factors, the size of the flooded area and
the water depth. Other factors include the duration
of the flood and flow velocities. Furthermore, the
rate at which the water rises and the time allowed

for evacuation largely determine the number of
casualties.G7
Flood damage and infrastructure
Looking at the most important consequences of
a flood for different economic sectors, it appears
most CDC cities are subject to similar threats from
flooding, both from oceanic storm surges and from
inland sources. For most ports, both land-based
transportation and the use of inland waterways
are of importance to connect the port areas with
surrounding regions. These connections may be
threatened as the clearance levels of bridges decrease
during a flood. Train and subway stations may be
flooded, coastal highways inundated, emergency
and hospital services curtailed and communications
disrupted. Furthermore, floods cause direct economic
damage to infrastructure and property, with the
magnitude of the damage depending on the depth
and duration of the flood. Most estimates of flood
damage rely on studies that quantify the direct
economic damages only. However, other non-flooded
areas may also be affected, as the supply of goods
and services to the flooded area may be hindered.
Production loss due to floods, however, is difficult to
quantify at present. Indirect flood damage may be
twice as high as the direct economic damage.
19
Introducing
CDC
2
by Piet Dircke and Arnoud Molenaar
Introduction
2
The Connecting Delta Cities objective is to
establish a network of delta cities that are
active in the field of climate change related
spatial development, water management,
and adaptation, in order to exchange
knowledge about climate adaptation and
share best practices to support cities in
developing their adaptation strategies.
INTRODUCING CONNECTING DELTA CITIES
origin off the CDC initiative

The CDC initiative originates from the C40. The C40 is
a group off the worlds largest cities and a number of
affiliated
ffi
cities committed to taking action on climate
change. By fostering a sense off shared purpose, the
C40 networkk off
ffers cities an effective
ff
forum in which
to workk together, share information and demonstrate
leadership. Through effective
ff
partnership working
with the Clinton Climate Initiative, the C40 helps
cities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions
through a range off energy effi
fficiency and clean energy
programmes (www.c40cities.org).
Many off the worlds major coastal cities are at risk
off flooding from rising sea levels and a changing
climate. Heat-trapping urban landscapes (buildings
and paved surfaces) can raise temperatures and
lower air quality dangerously through the Urban
Heat Island effect.
ff
In cities off the developing world,
one out off every three people live in a slum, making
them particularly vulnerable to the health and
environmental risks posed by climate change. The
C40 cities are taking action both to mitigate climate
change by reducing carbon emissions, and by
adapting to the effects
ff
off climate change so keenly
felt in cities.
The C40 member cities are:
Addis Ababa, Athens, Bangkok, Beijing, Berlin,
Bogot, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Caracas, Chicago, Delhi,
Dhaka, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Houston, Istanbul, Jakarta,
Johannesburg, Karachi, Lagos, Lima, London,
Los Angeles, Madrid, Melbourne, Mexico City,
Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Philadelphia,
Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai,
Sydney, Toronto, Tokyo and Warsaw.
21

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Affiliate C40 cities (19) are:

Amsterdam, Austin, Barcelona, Basel, Changwon,
Copenhagen, Curitiba, Heidelberg, Ho Chi Minh City,
Milan, New Orleans, Portland, Rotterdam,
Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Santiago, Seattle,
Stockholm and Yokohama.
Delta cities can benefit

fi from the Connecting Delta
Cities (CDC) networkk through:
Tokyo 2008: the birth off Connecting Delta Cities

In Tokyo in October 2008, a C40 meeting on climate
adaptation offi
fficially adopted the Connecting
Delta Cities (CDC) Initiative proposed by the City of
Rotterdam. It was addressed as Joint Action 8: Climate
Adaptation Connecting Delta Cities. C40 agreed the
networkk should (initially) consist off a small number of
cities that are frontrunners in climate adaptation, with
the objective off exchanging knowledge on climate
adaptation and sharing best practices.
Q Creating economic spin-offs

ff based on the
Q Exchange off adaptation strategies and
best practices
Q Stimulating adaptation practice and enlarging
operation capacity
acquired expertise
Q Supporting the inclusion off climate adaptation in
water management and spatial development

Q Contributing to the image off delta cities by
enhancing their vision on the future

Q Raising awareness amongst citizens and
local governments.
The CDC network in

practice
2
The CDC Network

The CDC network is concerned with solidarity and
cooperation between delta cities, and the issues
addressed in CDC are demanddriven. Based on these
principles, and supported by the commitment of
C40, the City of Rotterdam initiated the CDC network
and began to invest in knowledge exchange with
other CDC cities through meetings and workshops,
initiating joint research across different delta cities.
Currently, the CDC network consists of eight C40
cities (see Figure 2.1). These cities all envisage
similar climate related problems, comparable to
those addressed by the Rotterdam Climate Proof
programme (www.rotterdamclimateinitiative.nl),
l
and also envisage related port-specific issues. All of
these cities could act, or already do, as frontrunners,
thereby providing an example for other cities. They
Figure 2.1 The current cities of the CDC initiative (orange squares) and interested cities (yellow squares).
23
Figure 2.2 Connecting Delta Cities (CDC) organization.

The CDC secretariat is based in Rotterdam as the
international component of its adaptation programme
Rotterdam Climate Proof (RCP).
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are capable of sharing knowledge with other C40

cities and share the same sense of urgency with
regard to climate adaptation.
At present, the following cities are involved:
Rotterdam, New York, Jakarta, London, New Orleans,
Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Cities
that have shown interest in CDC include Shanghai,
Melbourne, Copenhagen, Lagos, Buenos Aires and
Manila.
The CDC network links cities at the local policy level.
Furthermore, scientific networks are enhanced
or developed to support the CDC activities by
providing information on climate trends, impacts and
adaptation options. The CDC involvement of each city
depends on how the individual cities have organized
the development of their adaptation plans.
Generally speaking, each city already has or is in
the initial phase of, however developing a pool of
institutes and experts (policy, scientific, business)
who can contribute to developing such an adaptation
plan. For example, the City of Rotterdam has
addressed CDC as an integral part of its climate
adaptation programme Rotterdam Climate Proof
(RCP). The CDC initiative is, hence, the international
component of its adaptation programme. In this way,
Rotterdam hopes to inspire and learn from other
delta cities, which may lead to economic spin-offs
and thus contribute to economically strong delta
cities.
In order to manage the flow of information between
the CDC cities, a small CDC secretariat has been
installed in Rotterdam. This secretariat is supported
by an advisory board to ensure CDC activities fit the
RCP goals. This committee comprises a mix of Dutch
government bodies, and knowledge institutions and

agencies.
CDC activities, results and initial
The CDC approach follows a minimum effort
maximum results design, which can be archieved
through the linking of CDC activities to the ongoing
activities of cities (e.g. policy actions related to
climate adaptation) and by linking CDC to larger
conferences on similar topics or networks with related
or comparable objectives. The degree of cooperation
differs as each CDC city has different priorities and
interests. The main activities are:
1. Knowledge exchange: Initiating symposia,
workshops, student exchanges, and meetings where
students, scientists, engineers and policymakers can
exchange expertise and ideas
2. Documentation: Supporting the publication of
(media)reports, films, publications and books on
climate adaptation in delta cities
3. Project support: Mobilizing experts for projects
and support the development of projects and
supporting proposals relating to climate adaptation
research and implementation
In 2009 and 2010, CDC organized several expert
workshops, participated in conferences, published
a first CDC book and co-financed a film on climate
adaptation in cities (www.deltacities.com). This
documentary Connecting Delta Cities examines
climate adaptation in the cities of New York, Jakarta,
Rotterdam and Alexandria. The film was first screened
at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey,
in March 2009. Since then, it has been shown at a
number of conferences such as the UNFCCC COP 15
25
in Copenhagen, and it has been shown on national

television in several countries.
The first CDC book, Connecting Delta Cities, described
the potential climate impacts and adaptation options
for the cities of New York, Rotterdam, and Jakarta, and
was launched at the US-Dutch H2O9 conference on
climate adaptation and water management during the
Hudson 400 event in New York as part of the Hudson
400 celebrations (www.henryhudson400.com) in New
York. CDC organized and participated in workshops
and conferences in New York City, New Orleans,
Rotterdam, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong.
CDC has also participated in major global events such
as the Aquaterra Forum on Deltas in Amsterdam, the
UNFCCC COP 15 in Copenhagen, the World Water
Forum in Istanbul, the Dutch Dialogues in New Orleans
and the World Expo (with the launch of the WWF
World Estuary Alliance and the Holland Water Week) in
Shanghai. In Indonesia a first research project was set
up in conjunction with a workshop dialogue.
Network collaboration
Connecting Delta Cities is a flexible network that
closely collaborates with similar and complementary
initiatives. For example, the Dutch Dialogues program
has proven to be a successful concept for the
dialogue in New Orleans and in New York during the
Henry Hudson 400 celebrations. Furthermore, CDC
collaborates closely with the following worldwide
networks Delta Alliance and World Estuary Alliance.
For this, CDC continuously exchanges information
with other networks, shares best practices, cooperates
in case studies and co-organizing events. The related
networks are:
Delta Alliance:
Understanding and improving resilience
across river deltas
Delta Alliance is an alliance of people and
organizations committed to improving the resilience
of the deltas in which they live and work. Members
take part in activities that span the spectrum of
researching, monitoring, reporting, advising, and
implementing projects on resilience-building in deltas.
Delta Alliance integrates knowledge and visions on a
river delta as a whole, linking information and people
from across sectors and jurisdictions for the common
goal of improving resilience. Regional Wings of Delta
Alliance are self-organized and include individuals and
organizations from across all sectors. An international
secretariat coordinates international events and
communications between the Regional Wings.
World Estuary Alliance (WEA):
Increasing awareness about ecological and economic
value of healthy estuaries
The WEA aims to raise awareness of the economic and
ecological value of healthy estuaries and to stimulate
exchange of knowledge and implementation of best
practices. Where the rivers meet the sea has always
been one of the most important of habitats for
humanity, but in the past centuries enormous damage
has been done to the vibrant life in estuaries. There is
a need to work together to advance the best thinking
in sustainable estuary development and protection.
The WEA is a living network, with a shared belief that
economic development and nature can go hand in
hand. The growing network includes representatives
from NGOs, business, science and policy makers. The
WEA is currently based in Shanghai.
27
Rotterdam
by Arnoud Molenaar and Piet Dircke
Introduction
One off the main aspects off the Delta Plan was to
improve the protection off Rotterdam during an extreme
storm surge. It was decided to construct the Maeslant
Storm Surge Barrier, which protects Rotterdam in the
case off an extreme flood event but stays open under
normal conditions to allow free access to the older port
areas as well as the inland shipping canals behind the
barrier. Furthermore, as ships must have free access to
the port, the City off Rotterdam and the Port Authority
have chosen to develop the port area outside the dike
protection system, at such an elevation that most of
the port area is well protected against floods.
fl
Hence,
over the last hundred years, 12,000 hectares off land
have been elevated using fill
fi materials to several meters
above sea level. Along with the Palm Islands in Dubai,
this is the largest area off human-made land in the world
to be mostly surrounded by water.
Rotterdam is situated in the heart of the

Dutch delta. The city lies largely below
sea level (up to 6 meters) and the city, and
the low lying area around it, is protected
from the sea by a complex and extensive
system of dikes, closure dams and storm
surge barriers, which are all part of the
famous Dutch Delta Plan. The Delta Works
were established after the disastrous 1953
floods, in which over 1,800 Dutch citizens
drowned.
ROTTERDAM
29
Ourr climate is changing. The consequences off climate

change willl also be feltt in Rotterdam. In orderr to confront
the challenge off climate change as an opportunity
ratherr than a threat, the Cityy off Rotterdam has sett up
the Rotterdam Climate Prooff programme thatt willl make
Rotterdam climate change resilientt byy 2025. Permanent
protection and
d accessibilityy off the Rotterdam region are key
elements. The centrall focus off the programme is to create
extra opportunities to make Rotterdam a more attractive
cityy in which to live, work, relaxx and
d invest. Trendsetting
research, innovative knowledge developmentt and
knowledge exchange with delta cities worldwide willl result
in strong economicc incentives.
Alexandra van Huffelen,
ff
Vice Mayorr Cityy off Rotterdam,
Sustainability, Cityy Centre and
d Publicc Space
Rotterdam is the perfectt showcase forr climate change

adaptation in the Netherlands and
d itt is an inspiring
example forr delta cities world
d wide. Rotterdam willl prove
thatt dealing with climate change in a pro-active and
smartt wayy creates opportunities forr an attractive and
economicallyy strong delta cityy off the future!
Piett Dircke, Professorr off Urban Waterr Management
Rotterdam Universityy off Applied
d Sciences, The Netherlands
Deltas in Times of Climate Change

29 Septemberr - 1 Octoberr 2010
Present
situation
2
3
Rotterdam is considered the marine gateway to
Western Europe in the Dutch delta formed by the
rivers Rhine and Meuse and has a long history as
a port. Rotterdam not only serves as port for the
Netherlands but for the whole off Western Europe,
in particular Germany. The rivers provide excellent
means for inland water transport to transport the
goods from the port into the hinterland
An important date in the history off Rotterdam is
May 1940, when large parts off the city centre were
completely destroyed during a bombardment by
the German Air Force. The centre off Rotterdam,
therefore, was almost completely rebuilt after the
Second World War.
ROTTERDAM
A major milestone in 2010 is the Deltas

in Times of Climate Change conference
(www.climatedeltaconference.org)
in Rotterdam between 29 September and
1 October 2010. This supported conference
has been organized by the City off Rotterdam
and the Dutch National Knowledge for Climate
Programme and pays special attention to the
climate proofi
fing off urban areas, providing a
platform for knowledge exchange between
scientists, policymakers, politicians and
practitioners. CDC celebrated its two-year
anniversary at this conference by launching the
bookk Connecting Delta Cities 2010 which you are
reading right now.
International conference
Deltas in Times of
Climate Change
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
29 September 1 October 2010
31
Climate and
flood risks
3
3
Rotterdam has a temperate climate infl
fluenced by the
North Sea, with moderate temperatures throughout
the year. However, heat waves in which temperatures
rise above 30C, do occur and will occur more
frequently in the future. Summers are moderately
hot with short wet periods. Rainfall is almost equally
distributed over the year, with an average annual
rainfall off around 790 mm. A new precipitation record
was set in August 2006, when almost 300 mm of
precipitation fell in one month, causing extensive
fl
flooding
and damage in the Rotterdam city area.
Winters are relatively wet, with persistent rainfall
periods. These periods off excessive rainfall can cause
fl
floods
in the river basins off the Rhine and Meuse.R1
The low-lying parts off the Netherlands, including
Rotterdam, have been flooded many times throughout
history. In the Netherlands, 26 percent off the country

lies below sea level and 29 percent is susceptible to
river flooding. Many low-lying parts off the Netherlands
Figure 3.1 Example off a flood riskk map off the port area off Rotterdam.
The colors indicate the potential flood
fl
losses in euro/m2.R2
have been reclaimed from former lakes (usually

referred to as polders) and are protected by so-called
dike rings along the main rivers and coastal areas.
Two thirds off the Dutch GDP (need to spell out in first
reference) is earned in these low-lying polders, and
most Dutch urban development is concentrated here.
For these reasons, the Dutch intend to stay in these
areas and, therefore, continue to invest heavily in
flood protection, even though the area is one off the
locations most vulnerable to flood
fl
riskk in the world.
Dutch flood protection standards are currently the
highest in the world. Most off the protection system
around Rotterdam is designed to withstand a storm
estimated to occur once in every 10,000 years.
The design surge level is determined at 4 m (the 1953

generated a surge height off 3 m). To protect against
such a storm, taking both surge levels and breaking
wave heights into account, the average dike along
the Rotterdam coast is more than 10 m in height.
fl
both the number of
This protection level reflects
inhabitants and the economic value off assets within
a dike ring; the more people and economic value to
be protected by levee infrastructure, the higher the
safety standard. As climate change is expected to
increase the frequency and severity off flooding events,
fl
probabilities will accordingly increase
these flood
rapidly with sea level rise. Therefore, reinforcing flood
fl
protection is, and will be, an ongoing concern in
Rotterdam and the Netherlands.
Figure 3.2 The potential number off fatalities caused by simultaneous levee breaches at Katwijk, Ter Heijde and The Hague with current land use (left)
and possible future land use according to a high economic growth scenario (GE, right).R3
ROTTERDAM
33
Socioeconomic effects of flooding

The Port of Rotterdam is of vital economic importance
for Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Europe. Large
parts of the port area and the City of Rotterdam are
protected by the Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier. This
barrier, however, was designed to cater to a maximum
sea level rise of about half a metre. Both the Port
Authority and the City of Rotterdam, together with
national government, are now considering options for
coping with the increasing flood risks due to climate
change. The port area, as already mentioned, is safe as
it is located at several metres above sea level. However
the area lies outside the dike protection system, and is
only protected only by the barrier. Occasionally, high
water levels can be problematic.
A large proportion of the Netherlands economic
assets are clustered in the port area of Rotterdam,
where the estimated potential damage in the event
of flooding is in the order of tens of billions of euros
(see Figure 3.1). At risk are port facilities, railroads,
tunnels and container terminals. In addition, a large
section of Rotterdams working population works in
the port area, and many businesses strongly depend
on activities in the port.
On the other hand, the city is situated inside the dike
protection system and very safe. But, because it is
located below sea level, this high protection level is a
necessity, as a failure of the system can immediately
cause severe danger. The expected number of
casualties as a result of flooding in the Rotterdam
region is regarded as an important indicator of
vulnerability. Figure 3.2 shows the projected effects
of the relatively high growth in urban development
in low-lying polders north of Rotterdam by 2040 on
ROTTERDAM
Figure 3.3 This picture, based on satellite images taken on clear and
warm days during the last 25 years, shows that the temperature of the
urban environment is significantly higher than in the rural areas.
the potential number of casualties in the province of

South Holland in the event of dike breaches.
The rise in sea level has a relatively small effect on the
low-lying polders. For example, a sea level rise of
30 cm could cause an increase in the fatality rate by
as much as 20 percent, while an expected 87 percent
population growth in the area by 2040 is projected to
cause a 156 percent increase in potential fatalities in
the area. The influence of the population growth on
the fatality rate is therefore considerably greater than
the effect of projected sea level rise.
Veerman Commission:
the second Dutch Delta Plan 2008
In the Netherlands, sea levels may rise to 0.59 metres
in the year 2100 according to the IPCC. At the same
time, the Netherlands currently still has dikes that are
35
below the Dutch safety standard and that must be

restored. To this end, a new Delta Commission, headed
by former Dutch agricultural minister Cees Veerman,
was installed and produced a new Dutch Delta
Plan. This national commission studied the future
climate change challenges facing the Netherlands
and presented new recommendations on flood
management and adaptation to climate change.R4, R5
Based on this plan, the Dutch government will spend
over one billion euros a year until 2100 extending and
strengthing the countries dikes and improving flood
control.
The new Delta Plan also indicates there is a need to
build special flood
fl
protection around the port and
Figure 3.4 Possible scenarios for the Rhine Estuary Closable but Open.
the city off Rotterdam. An Increasing sea levels lead

to more frequent closures off the Maeslant Barrier,
which leads to on increased riskk off flooding from the
large rivers flowing
fl
through Rotterdam that cannot
discharge freely into the North Sea under these
conditions. A number off diff
fferent scenarios are under
consideration in an open debate known as Rhine
Estuary Closable but Open (see Figure 3.4). Should
Rotterdam be protected by an extended and complex
system off barriers, dams and gates that keep the sea
out, or should Rotterdam embrace the sea and opt for
a new balance in the water system and allow the salt
fl freely in and out off the city?
water to flow
off 30 megatons in CO2 emissions, in conjunction with

economic growth. The founders off the Rotterdam
Climate Initiative are the Port off Rotterdam, the
companies in the industrial port district, the
municipality, and the environmental protection
agency Rijnmond.
Climate
adaptation
4
3
Rotterdam is dealing with the consequences of
climate change in a pro-active way by turning climate
challenges into opportunities. Rotterdam wants to
protect its citizens against the future impacts, such as
climate change, by making Rotterdam climate proof
by 2025. The city also has the ambition to become
aims a global leader in water management and climate
change adaptation.
The Rotterdam Climate Prooff (RCP) organization

focuses on climate adaptation, and is the adaptation
programme off the Rotterdam Climate Initiative.R7
Within the RCP, water is not only seen as a threat,
but also as an asset for developing an attractive
and economically strong city. There are three main
challenges related to water and climate change
described in the RCP plan: flood protection;
architecture and spatial planning; and rainwater
storage and updating the sewerage system.
Flood protection
To protect Rotterdam for the future climate and
fl
flood
conditions, the city is developing innovative,
multifunctional types off urban flood protection
that are not only safe but also fit optimally into the
For this reason, the Rotterdam Climate Initiative (RCI)

was launched to develop Rotterdam into a climateneutral city.R6 The focus off this plan is on mitigating the
emission off greenhouse gases and on strengthening
the citys economy through innovative solutions to
save energy and store CO2. The goal is to achieve a
50 percent reduction by 2025 (compared to the level
off emissions in 1990); this requires an annual reduction
Figure 3.5 City Ports off Rotterdam, living showcase off adaptive and
sustainable building.
ROTTERDAM
37
Figure 3.6 A map from the Rotterdam Water Plan 2030 as part off the adaptation programme initiative Rotterdam Climate Proof (RCP) showing new
perspectives for water management.
dense urban fabric, not creating a barrier disturbing

the urban flow
fl but a structure that adds value to it,
with new and attractive parking space, green areas
and pedestrian zones. At the same time, 40,000 of
Rotterdams inhabitants live outside the dike system,
only protected only by the Maeslant Barrier. For
these citizens, new types off climate proofi
fing are
under development, including retrofi
fitting off existing
buildings and new constructed adaptive housing
types like floating
fl
homes. However, these citizens will
have to live with a certain riskk off getting wet feet once
in a while.
Architecture and spatial planning
Rotterdam is looking for alternative options that
both enhance fl
flood protection and add value to
the attractiveness off the city. To achieve this, an
innovative integrated adaptation strategy, combining
spatial planning, architecture and flood
fl
protection is
being introduced. Rotterdam plans to develop 1,600
ha (4.000 acres) off adaptive waterfront locations in
the old harbour area in the centre off the city. The
Stadshavens or City Ports project currently is one of
Europes largest urban redevelopments (Figure 3.5).
Through adaptive architecture, this neighbourhood
can be made climate prooff and serve as a high quality
waterfront living and working area. This requires new
ways off developing buildings that, for example, allow
water to move through the neighbourhood in the
event off a flood
fl
without causing casualties or damage
to assets. Floating homes may be part off this new

adaptation strategy.
These new technologies are being developed at
knowledge centres like the RDM Campus (Research,
Design and manufacturing), an initiative off the
Rotterdam University off Applied Sciences, the
City off Rotterdam, the Port Authorities and other
private and public parties (Figure 3.7). The RDM is
now a campus at the old RDM shipping wharff in
the heart off Stadshavens, where the education of
future generations is combined with innovative and
sustainable development off businesses and sciences,
and with experiencing best practices.
(www.rdmcampus.nl)
l
Rainwater storage, updating storm

water sewerage system
For Rotterdam, climate change will result in more
prolonged periods off drought and more heavy
showers, both in the summer and winter periods.
Precipitation is expected to increase by between
7 percent and 28 percent in winter. There is a risk
that the current sewerage system may not be able to
treat and drain the surplus off water. The Rotterdam
Water Plan 2030 (Figure 3.6) requires an additional
600,000 m3 off storm water storage space. At least 80
hectares off extra lakes and canals would be needed to
provide this storage in open water. In the city centre,
open water areas are used for storing extra water by
retrofitting
fi
ponds in city parks, or adjusting canals to
store more water, so that in the case off an extreme
precipitation event, their water levels may rise without
Figure 3.7 RDM Campus (Research, Design and Manufacturing).
ROTTERDAM
39
Figure 3.8 Example of a Water Plaza that is used as a playground during normal conditions and as a reservoir in case of extreme precipitation.
inundating surrounding areas. An artists impression of

creating more open water is presented in Figure 3.9.
Additionally, especially in densely built areas, water
can also be stored on green roofs, in Water Plazas or in
underground parking garages. Green roofs slow the
rate off rooff runoff
ff and can retain between 10-20 mm
off rainwater, which equals an average off 100 m3 to
200 m3 off water per rooff in Rotterdam. After a rainfall
event, green roofs gradually release water backk into
the atmosphere via evaporation. Rotterdam has a
large government support programme in place for the
partial subsidizing off the development off green roofs.
Nearly 50.000 m2 off additional green rooff has been
developed so far.
Figure 3.9 Artists impression off creating more open water in the city
for storing excess rainwater in the Rotterdam area.R6
Figure 3.10 Reservoir connected to the sewerage and stormwater

system being developed as part off a newly built underground parking
garage R6.
Furthermore, a Water Plaza in Rotterdam can store

water in times off peakk rain events but is used as a
playground in normal conditions (Figure 3.8). Another
example is presented in Figure 3.10, showing the
development off a new underground car parkk below
which is the sloping entrance a storm water storage
basin that is connected to the citys storm water and
sewerage system. The capacity (10,000 m3) off the
reservoir is large enough to store 50 percent off the
expected volume off rainwater that falls in one storm
on city centre Rotterdam. The construction off this
basin will be finished by the end off 2010.
ROTTERDAM
41
Smart Flood Control Rotterdam

Rotterdam is currently developing innovative
technologies to become a smart city off the future.
Flood Control 2015, a Dutch public private consortium
off nine water specialists and experts in the field of
water management, ICTT and crisis management
(www.fl
floodcontrol2015.com), is currently researching
the feasibility off a smart flood control system for the
city. Smart gaming, a demonstrator control room,
decision support systems, application off sensor
technology in dikes, and many other tools are under
consideration and may be integrated into a new
smart flood
fl
protection system for Rotterdam. At the
Rotterdam University off Applied Sciences, smart flood
control is one off the topics that can be studied on the
new full time Water Management Bachelor Programme.
In collaboration with private firms,
fi
students are
currently developing a Rotterdam flood
fl
management
serious game in a so-called Innovation lab.
important for the residents living next to the river. For

these citizens, the City off Rotterdam is developing
practical information about flood risks and emergency
situations.
Rotterdam National Water Centre
As a result off the successful combination of
climate adaptation implementation and research,
Rotterdam will become an innovative center for water
management and climate change; a truly smart delta
city. International collaboration with other delta cities
will be intensified
fi and extended, and will definitely
fi
gain momentum, creating new opportunities for
businesses and knowledge institutions in, and around,
Rotterdam. The leading role off Rotterdam in the
Netherlands as an international showcase for water
management and climate change was underlined by
Communication aspects
Communication is important and required on different
ff
levels and different
ff
scales. Adequate communication
with local (city council), regional (water boards) and
national government bodies is crucial in to create
awareness and commitment for funding off research
and measures. At local level, communication with
residents in the early stages off urban planning
processes is essential for the public acceptance,
and a requirement for successful implementation of
innovative solutions such as Water Plazas. These water
storage projects in the citys public spaces require
sophisticated communication about the risks of
drowning and the possibilities off mosquito plagues.
In Rotterdam, a campaign about green roofs resulted
in public participation. Good communication is also
Figure 3.11 Floating Pavilion in Rotterdam.
Figure 3.12 Inside the Floating Pavilion.
the decision off the Dutch Water sector, to establish

a National Water Centre in Rotterdam. An important
milestone for the city in 2012 will be the opening of
the National Water Centre in Rotterdam, as part off the
Dutch Delta Design 2012 event.
Floating Pavilion
24 June 2010 Rotterdam witnessed the official
ffi
opening
off its floating pavilion (see Figure 3.11 and 3.12). The
pavilion will house the Expo function off the Rotterdam
National Water Centre.
pavilion, a visible icon and landmarkk for the city will

automatically rise accordingly. This makes the pavilion
an example off climate change resilient building and
off Rotterdams commitment to and expertise on
sustainable and climate change resilient construction.
In addition to sustainable technology on the inside,
such as heating and cooling systems that use solar
energy, climatic zones and a separate filter
fi
installation,
the outside is also sustainable and as the pavilion is
fl
flexible
and can moor at any location.
The launch off the floating pavilion attracted massive

public attention both during the trip from the RDM
Campus and during the official
ffi
opening. Crowds
off people thronged to the quays to witness this
historic moment. As the water level rises, the floating
fl
ROTTERDAM
43
Rotterdam Adaptation Strategy (RAS)

Strategy
In order to realize a climate-proof city, Rotterdam
has developed the RAS strategy, containing the
following elements:
Q Focus on 5 topics: Water safety, urban water
management, urban climate, accessibility (in terms
of transport and infrastructure) and adaptive
buildings
Q Distinguish three types of adaptation options
(columns in Figure 3.13). 1) Minimizing the
probability of a calamity, 2) minimizing the
consequences and 3) improving the recovery
Q Connect potential measures to various spatial
levels: region, city, quarter/street, individual
building (rows in Figure 3.11). Measures at different

levels are connected and interrelated
Q Combine forecasting and backcasting
techniques in order to develop a roadmap which is
to lead each topic to its specific goal
Q Learning by doing: continuously develop
(scientific) knowledge while immediately applying
results to practical situations
Q Communicate actions. Firstly to exchange
knowledge and to stimulate cooperation with
universities, companies and other cities and
secondly, to inform the general public and to show
what the city is doing and how we can turn climate
change from a threat into an opportunity.
Challenges for the future

One crucial element is to involve more actors in the
region and to transform the Rotterdam Adaptation
Strategy into a Regional Adaptation Strategy. At
the same time, different
ff
themes must be prioritized
based on progressive insight and the ongoing
development off the city. Another important action
is to increase awareness among policymakers and
city planners and to integrate the need
to strengthen the citys adaptation capability

into main stream city development planning.
Finally, Rotterdam is also working on designing a
monitoring system as well as a climate barometer,
that will translate all its efforts
ff
and actions into
clear results and which will help to access the
extent off Rotterdams in closing the gap between
its ambitions and on ever-changing reality.
Rotterdam Adaptation Strategy: examples of potential measures

Q relates to water safety Q relates to management of the urban water system
Minimizing chance
Region
Q improve safety level of
storm surge barrier
Minimizing consequences
Stimulating recovery
Q set up an early warning
system
Q design an evacuation
plan
City
Quarter / street
Q improve safety level
Q flood proof infrastructure
Q arrange back-up
of dikes
Q create space for (innovative) water storage, e.g.
in underground parkings
Q greening the city,
converting paved to
unpaved surfaces
(utilities)
Q raise main roads for
evacuation
systems
(e.g. water supply)
Q arrange a help desk
for damage-related
questions
Q create flood damage
insurance fund
Q raising surface level
Q create safe havens

Q create shadow
Q raise the pavement /
Q install pumps
of public space
Q apply permeable paving
lower the street
Building
Q build on mounds and
Q install wet or dry proof
invest in adaptive
building
Q apply less tiles and more
green in gardens
ground floor
Q promote resilience
Q install pumps
Figure 3.13 Rotterdam Adaptation Strategy (RAS).
ROTTERDAM
45
New York
by Malcolm Bowman and Piet Dircke
its strategic position on the East Coast off the

United States, and with its well protected harbour
within the Hudson River Estuary, this historic
metropolis has become one off the most important
cities in the world.
Introduction
The recently published report off the New Yorkk City

Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) indicates that climate
change poses a challenge for the development and
safety in New Yorkk City, given the uncertain risks of
sea level rise and enhanced flooding from extreme
weather events and climate change. The NPCC states
that New Yorkk City is vulnerable to coastal storm
surges, which are mainly associated with either late
summer-autumn hurricanes or extra tropical cyclones
in the winter period (noreasters).
With almost 2,400 km of shoreline,

Metropolitan New Yorks historical
development has been intimately tied to
the sea. Four out of five of New York Citys
boroughs are located on islands. Many
bridges and tunnels connect these islands
to the New York State and New Jersey
mainland. The boroughs of Brooklyn and
Queens, home to millions of residents,
rests on Long Islands low-lying terminal
moraine of sand and boulders, left as the
heritage of the last ice age.
NEW YORK
47
The CDC New York City Climate Change

Adaptation workshop
The Brooklyn-Rotterdam
Waterfront exchange
June 2009
March - November 2010
On 9 and 10 of June 2009, a group of 75 scientists,

engineers, social scientists, architects, insurance
experts, policymakers and planners gathered
at the Stony Brook Manhattan campus in New
York City to discuss the issue of climate change
adaptation in coastal cities at the Connecting
Delta Cities Workshop. The conference was cohosted by Stony Brook and Columbia Universities.
Representatives from the cities of Rotterdam,
New York, Jakarta and London shared their
experiences in adaptation planning. Innovations
and bottlenecks in adaptation policies were
addressed, and areas were explored with
potential for further extended exchange of
experience and expertise.
While New York City, Rotterdam, and Jakarta are
each vulnerable to climate change, rising sea
level and storm surges, and each possess unique
physical and geographic features, there was much
common knowledge that could be learned and
shared. During the workshop, it became clear
that the challenges of climate adaptation pose
fundamental and difficult questions and hard
choices for research, policy and industry. A clear
need was felt for unprecedented cooperation and
knowledge exchange across all sectors.
New York joined forces with Rotterdam and

other Dutch partners in the Brooklyn-Rotterdam
Waterfront Exchange. The 2010 exchange, coorganized by New York City, the New York and
New Jersey Port Authorities, the City and Port of
Rotterdam, the Netherlands Water Partnership and
several other parties. It was a much appreciated
forum for sharing experiences, devise innovative
solutions, new strategies, development models
and best practices for reshaping outdated portrelated areas. Such factors are necessary elements
contributing to the economic prosperity and
environmental sustainability of the surrounding
metropolitan regions. Well attended and successful
workshops both in New York and Rotterdam were
organized.
The Exchange focused on a comparison of plans
and best practices for Brooklyns south-western
waterfront, located at the mouth of the New
York Harbour, and Rotterdams City Ports. The
objective was to select and apply international
best practices for these two locations and
help generate support for long-term decisions
about key challenges, which include economic
development, environmental sustainability,
transportation infrastructure, waterfront uses, and
climate change. Another objective was to share
expertise about effective public policies, which are
instrumental in implementing innovative solutions
in both cities.
Climate change is reall and

d could
d have serious
consequences forr New
w Yorkk iff we dontt take
action, said
d Mayorr Michaell Bloomberg. Planning
forr climate change todayy is less expensive than
rebuilding an entire networkk afterr a catastrophe.
We cannott waitt untill afterr ourr infrastructure has
been compromised
d to begin to plan forr the effects
ff
of
climate change.
Michaell Bloomberg,
Mayorr of New
w Yorkk City
There are manyy challenges facing Metropolitan New

Yorkk related
d to climate change in the decades ahead. A
significant
fi t portion off the land
d area off the cityy lies between
0 and
d 3 m above sea levell and
d severall million people,
especiallyy in the outerr boroughs, live in low
w lying coastal
terrain exposed
d to the ocean. While New
w Yorkk mayy have
the advantage overr its European counterparts off having
more time to plan forr future climate change and
d dangerous
levels off sea levell rise, the European experience off coping
with naturall flooding disasters tells us thatt manyy decades
are needed
d to arrive att the bestt solutions to protectt the
citys infrastructure and
d the safetyy off its residents. Now
w is
the time to startt planning forr the centuryy ahead.
Professorr Malcolm Bowman, State Universityy off New
w Yorkk at
Stonyy Brook; Memberr off Mayorr Bloombergs New
w Yorkk Panel
on Climate Change
NEW YORK
49
James, Duke off York. In 1783, New Yorkk became the

fi capital off the newly independent United States.
first
Present
situation
2
4
The Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, is
believed to have been the first European to explore,
the area now known as the New Yorkk Harbour in
1524. Although Da Verrazzano was the first to visit
the location off present-day New Yorkk City, it was
Henry Hudson who claimed Manhattan for the Dutch
Government in 1609, sailing his ship The Halff Moon
275 km up the river which now bears his name to
the state capital off Albany. Over the next twenty
years, many Dutch and other Europeans settled in
New Amsterdam, the principal city and port off New
Netherlands. Peter Minuit, a Dutch political director,
is credited with making the deal off the century,
when he bought Manhattan Island from the Canarsee
Indians for just $24. The Dutch continued to control
New Amsterdam until 1664, when the British tookk over
from the Dutch and renamed the city New York, after
New Yorkk City experienced an exceptional period of

growth during the 19th century. In 1800, when the city
still consisted primarily off Manhattan, it had a mere
60,000 inhabitants; by 1890, the population had grown
25-fold to 1.5 million inhabitants, including Brooklyn,
Queens, Staten Island and the West Bronx. The
opening off the Erie Canal in 1826 provided an efficient
ffi
transportation networkk for Midwestern grain and
other commodities for domestical use and for export
through New Yorkk Harbour. Railways and steamboats
were important elements off economic development
from the first
fi part off the 19th century, and the opening
off the Croton water system (1842) brought clean water
to the citys population, for the first time and improved
public health. Since the 1950s, New Yorks population
has grown to over 8 million inhabitants. After a decline
in the cilys population in the 1980s, nearly 1.2 million
immigrants settled in New Yorkk City in the 1990s. The
projected population in Metropolitan New Yorkk (MET)
in 2050 could be as high as 23 million residents.
Climate and
flood risks
3
4
New Yorkk City has a temperate, continental climate,
with hot and humid summers and cold winters.
Records show an annual average temperature
between 1971 and 2000 off approximately 12.8C.
The annual mean temperature in New Yorkk City has
risen by 1.4C since 1900, although the trend has
varied substantially over the decades. Between 1971
and 2000, New Yorkk City averaged 13 days per year
with 1 inch (25.4 mm) or more off rain, 3 days per year
with 2 or more inches (50.8 mm) off rain, and 0.3 days
per year with over 4 inches (101.6 mm) off rain.
Regional precipitation in New Yorkk may increase by
approximately 5 to 10 percent by the 2080s. Climate
models tend to distribute much off this additional
precipitation to the winter months. Because off the
effects
ff
off higher temperatures, New Yorkk also faces on
increased riskk off drought.
NEW YORK
Storm surges, winter storms and hurricanes

Storm surges along the eastern seaboard off the
United States are associated with either late summerautumn hurricanes or extratropical cyclones in the
winter period, the so-called noreasters. The effects
ff
off extratropical cyclones or noreasters can be large,
in part because off their relatively long durations
(compared to hurricanes) lead to extended periods of
high winds and high water. In the past, New Yorkk has
been hit by many winter storms coinciding with high
tides.
The height off the hurricane surge is amplified
fi if
it coincides with the astronomical high tide and
additionally occurs at the time off new and full moon
(spring tides). A period characterized by many severe
hurricanes (Saffir-Simpson
ffi
categories 3-5) in the
1940s to 1960s was followed by relative quiescence
Figure 4.1 Hurricanes rated category 3 or higher that made

landfall on the US East and Gulff coasts in the period 1900-1999.NY2
51
during the 1970s to the early 1990s.

Again, greater activity has occurred since the late
1990s. Although hurricanes strike New York City
infrequently, when they do, generally between July
and October, they can produce large storm surges
as well as wind and rain damage inland. Atlantic
hurricanes are affected by the El Nio-Southern
Oscillation (a warming of the ocean surface off the
western coast of South America that occurs every 4 to
12 years). Figure 4.1 shows all category 3 hurricanes
(or higher) that made landfall on the US coast in
the period 1900-1999. It shows that hurricanes
have struck the coastal New York area six times in
that period,NY1 resulting in severe coastal flooding,
damage and destruction of beachfront property,
severe beach erosion, downed power lines, power
outages and disruption of normal transportation.
History of flood events

The August 1893 hurricane completely destroyed Hog
Island, a barrier island and popular resort area on the
south coast of Long Island that once existed seaward
of Rockaway Beach.
The worst natural disaster to strike the north-eastern
US was the hurricane of 21 September 1938, the socalled Long Island Express which was estimated to
have killed between 682 and 800 people, damaged or
destroyed over 57,000 homes, and caused property
losses estimated at US$306 million (comparable to
$4.72 billion in 2010). This storm struck with little
warning. A wall of water 7-11 m (25-30 ft) high (surge
plus breaking waves) swept away protective barrier
dunes and buildings on the shores of eastern Long
Island, eastern Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
More recently, the December 1992 storm produced
some off the worst flooding seen in Metropolitan

New Yorkk in more than 40 years. The water level at the
Battery in Lower Manhattan peaked at 2.4 m
(8 ft) above mean sea level; spring tides were already
higher than normal due to the full moon. The flooding
fl
off Lower Manhattan, together with heavy winds, led
to the almost complete shutdown off the New York
City transportation system for several days, as well
as evacuation off many seaside communities in New
Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island.
The vulnerability off the regional transportation system
to flooding
fl
was demonstrated again on 26 August
1999, after 6.4-10.2 cm off rain fell on the New York
metropolitan area, nearly paralyzing the transport
system.NY3
Storm surge heights and frequency
A large proportion off New Yorkk City and the
surrounding region, lies less than 3 m (10 ft) above
mean sea level, and infrastructure in these areas is
vulnerable to coastal flooding. A one in a hundred
years flood
fl
could produce a 3 m (9 ft) surge in New
Yorkk Harbour and along the south coast off Long
Island. Such a surge is more likely to be caused by a
hurricane than a winter noreaster. On the other hand,
hurricanes occur much less frequently than noreasters.
Noreasters are dangerous and can cause considerable
damage even though their wind speeds are lower than
those in fast-moving hurricanes, as noreasters cover
a much greater area and tend to last several days. This
means that sequential high tides will carry the storm
surges further inland at a particular location.
early 1990s. However, there has been no appreciable

increase in either the number or severity off storms
over this period. The increase in coastal fl
flooding is
largely a consequence off the regional sea level rise
during this period (about 30 cm per century) due to
eustatic adjustment off the continent since the last
age and not due to recent fossil-fuel-related sea level
rise. It illustrates how rising ocean levels are likely to
exacerbate storm impacts in the future as sea level rise
accelerates.NY4
Socioeconomic effects
ff
off flooding
Many off the regions rail, subway (metro) and tunnel
entrance points, as well as some ports off the New
Yorks major airports, lie at elevations off 3 m above
sea level or less. Sea level rise and flooding
fl
levels of
only 65 cm above the level which occurred during
Storm return frequencies along the US East Coast

over the last 50 years peaked in the late 1960s,
diminished in the 1970s, and picked up again in the
NEW YORK
53
combination off these two factors, over time, will result

in both increased flooding and increased droughts,
with the resulting need to adjust system operating
rules and drought regulations in order to maintain
supply levels NY6. Climate change is also expected
to have many possible impacts on water quality,
human and ecological health, as a result off increasing
temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and
changes in turbidity, eutrophication and other water
quality parameters. Higher sea levels and storm surges
will also affect
ff the operation off existing wastewater
treatment plans and outfalls, with consequent water
quality impacts to receiving water bodies.
the December 1992 winter noreaster will place

the areas low-lying transportation infrastructure
at increased riskk off flooding.NY5 In the Metropolitan
East Coast (MEC) region, some beaches and barrier
islands are narrowing or shifting landward, partly
as a result off ongoing sea level rise as well as land
subsidence. Accelerated sea level rise will intensify
the rate and extent off coastal erosion. While sea level
rise is obviously an important factor, beach erosion
is frequently intensified
fi by human activities such as
coastal development and destruction off wetlands.
The inland sources off New Yorkk Citys water supply
system (Long Island almost exclusively derives its
water supply from underground aquifers) will be
impacted by higher temperatures and forecast
increased precipitation. It is expected that the
Maintenance off acceptable water quality standards

in New Yorkk Harbour, western Long Island Sound,
the lower Hudson, Passaic and Hackensackk rivers is
dependent on an adequate flushing rate driven by
the twice-daily fl
flood and ebb circulation off the tides.
Most off the citys treated and untreated sewerage is
eventually discharged into the harbour and waterways
surrounding Metropolitan New York. There are ocean
outfalls in sections off Nassau and Suffolk
ff k Counties
along the south shore off Long Island.
Much off New Yorkk City relies on a combined sewer
system, which means that heavy precipitation events
often result in sewage flows being routed around
treatment facilities, and stored in temporary holding
tanks or released directly into the receiving water
bodies. Intense precipitation events can lead to
fl
off the combined sewers into
occasional overflowing
city streets and subway systems.
Climate
adaptation
4
compared to 2005 levels.

In recent decades, New Yorkk City has acquired a
substantial history off eff
fforts to assess adaptation
strategies to address climate change. The Metro East
Coast Report, a report for the National Assessment of
Climate Variability and Change,NY5 reviewed climate
change with many regional stakeholders. The New York
City Department off Environmental Protections Climate
Change Taskk Force, initiated in 2004, surveyed the
entire range off vulnerabilities to climate change off the
water system. Its most recent report, the Assessment
and Action Plan, NY6 was published in 2008.
Mayor Bloomberg, in partnership with the Rockefeller
Foundation, convened the New Yorkk City Panel on
Climate Change (NPCC). The NPCC, which consists of
climate change and climate impact scientists, as well
as legal, insurance and riskk management experts,
In December 2006, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

challenged New Yorkers to generate ideas for
achieving 10 key goals for the citys sustainable
future.NY7 New Yorkers in all five boroughs responded
positively. The result is the most sweeping plan
to enhance New Yorks urban environment in the
citys modern history. On Earth Day 2007, the Mayor
released PlaNYC 2030, a comprehensive sustainability
plan for the citys future. PlaNYC puts forth a strategy
to reduce the citys carbon footprint, while at the
same time accommodating population growth and
improving the citys infrastructure and environment.
The combined impact off this plan will not only help
ensure a higher quality off life for generations of
New Yorkers to come, but will also contribute to a
30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
NEW YORK
55
serves as the technical advisory body for the Mayor

and the New York City Climate Change Adaptation
Task Force on issues related to climate change, impacts
and adaptation. The Task Force has focused its work
on critical infrastructure in the city, and the NPCC has
developed three workbooks to guide adaptation planning; a full report from the NPCC is forthcoming.NY8
The city has developed a robust, durable framework
for effective, flexible and cost-efficient adaptation
planning designed to meet the challenges of climate
change in the city.NY9 This framework is based on
IPCC GCM model outputs for climate scenarios,
and carefully developed adaptation assessment
procedures in the context of climate protection levels.
On a statewide level, the ClimAID study, sponsored
by the New York Energy Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA), includes an assessment of
coastal impacts, as does the New York Commission
on Sea Level Rise and several other studies. There is a
growing awareness that all of these recommendations
will have to be monitored and adjusted, as new
research and observations become available as to the
projected rate of sea level rise.
Land use zoning and flood insurance
The development of NYC waterfronts continues
because of the attractiveness of locating near the
water for recreational and economic activities.
Two recent successful examples of waterfront
developments in New York City are Battery Park, on
the south side of Manhattan, and Brooklyn Bridge
Park, on the Brooklyn side of the east River, near the
bridge. The question that arises is how to develop
future areas and control future land use in such a
manner that vulnerability to flooding is managed
in a way that limits risks to human life and physical

structures. In this respect, flood zoning policies and
building codes can be powerful tools. New York City
waterfronts play a crucial role in this context as a first
line of flood defense, protecting New York City for
future challenges. Hence, the way zoning policies
are applied to waterfronts is directly determining
future vulnerability to flood risks and new (re-) zoning
policies for waterfronts can be perceived as option for
climate adaptation in New York City.
Examples are to reduce urban density near waterfronts, allow for additional elevation of buildings near
the waterfronts (freeboarding) and to combine levee
systems with residential housing near the waterfront.
Furthermore, flood insurance could be an important
tool for achieving risk reduction, because it imposes
the minimum requirements for local governments
flood zoning and flood building codes, and it provides

fl
incentives to homeowners to invest in riskk reduction
beyond these minimum standards.
Wetland restoration
There is an opportunity in NYC for waterfront
development that enhances flood protection levels
through applying measures that also enhance
environmental values. Current discussions address
focusing on waterfront areas where coastal flood
protection and nature preservation can be codeveloped. Local government and the state and
federal policies have a mutual interest here. At the
policy level, such an approach could be addressed
through better integrating Federal and State coastal
zone protection into local Waterfront Revitalization
Programs (LWRP).
Such multi functional land use developments,

however, need new planning regulations and urban
designs that allow for a less rigid boundary between
land and water. For example, most environmental
values are found creating (shallow-) gradients between
land and water.
The City off New Yorkk has recently initiated the Staten
Island Bluebelt Programme to reduce the risks of
fl
flooding
on Staten Island from storm water, by
providing and constructing storm water detention
ponds and enhancing or creating streams, ponds
and wetlands. New, separate, storm and sanitary
sewer infrastructure networks are also included in the
programme. The 10,000-acre (4,000 hectare) Bluebelt
Programme, at an estimated cost off $37 million,
would cost some $39 million less than a conventional
underground networkk off storm sewers.NY6
Storm surge barriers
One possible long-term measure that might be
considered is storm surge barriers spanning the major
navigation channels connecting New Yorkk Harbour
to the sea. As New Yorkk is generally located on higher
ground than other threatened European delta cities
such as Rotterdam, London and St Petersburg, New
Yorkk City planners enjoy the benefit
fi off more time
to consider options for future flood protection. The
problems off climate change impacts to be faced in
New Yorkk 50 and 100 years from now may be in some
respects similar to those off the abovementioned
European cities today. Therefore, much can be learned
from the European experiences with storm surge
barriers before making commitments to ambitious
regional solutions.
As with any major engineering works, New York
Figure 4.2 Paradise Pond in Marshland, preserve Long Island NY.
NEW YORK
57
barrier design and emplacement would require

comprehensive feasibility/cost/benefit
fi analyses,
desired protection level and efficacy
ffi
studies.NY11
New Yorkk City has high ground in all off the boroughs
which could protect against some levels off surge
with a combination off local measures (such as dikes),
resilient housing, enhanced community resiliency and
evacuation plans. Barriers designed to impede oceanic
storm surges obviously would not protect against the
substantial inland damages from wind and rain that
often accompany hurricanes. As with the Dutch Delta
Plan, careful decisions would need to be made about
barrier and dyke locations, since all such systems and
also do not protect those infrastructure and residents
who live outside the barrier.
Possible locations for barriers that were considered
at a 2009 ASCE conference Against the deluge: storm
NEW YORK
surge Barriers to protect New Yorkk City NY12 include

the Verrazano Narrows, which is the main shipping
channel, connecting Upper New Yorkk Bay and Port
Elizabeth, N.J. with the Atlantic Ocean. Other possible
connections include the upper East River to eliminate
surges originating in western Long Island Sound,
the Arthur Kill behind Staten Island and or a more
ambitious outer barrier system stretching across
from Sandy Hook, N.J. to Far Rockaway, Long Island.
This latter approach follows the Delta Works design
by shortening the length off coastline that needs
to be protected as well as safeguarding JFK
K Airport
and densely-populated communities in Brooklyn,
Queens, Jamaica Bay and northern NJ. This barrier
would eliminate the need for both the Verrazano and
the Arthur Kill barriers (but not the upper East River
barrier), provide protection to the outer boroughs
off Brooklyn and Queens, additional northern NJ
communities, Jamaica Bay and JFK
K Airport, but would
have significant
fi
environmental impact, including
augmenting and modifying the Sandy Hookk barrier
dune system off the nearby Gateway National
Recreational Area.
59
Jakarta
5
by Philip Ward, Muh Aris Marfai,
Aisa Tobing and Christiaan Elings
Introduction
but reports of flooding are prevalent

throughout this long period.J5
The Government of Jakarta is aware
that efforts to reduce floods involve
local, national and global factors and
is determined to achieve its objectives.
This is quite a challenge, but Jakarta is in
the process to develop detailed plans to
accommodate more water and increase
green retention areas in the city.
5
Flooding and flood management are not
new to Jakarta. The region has suffered
from flooding ever since the founding
of Batavia (the colonial name for the
current city of Jakarta) by the Dutch in
1619. Soon after this, a canal system
was constructed and by 1725 a dam had
already been built to divert the waters of
the Ciliwung westwards. Over the course
of the last four centuries, many more
technical flood managements strategies
have been designed and implemented,
Figure 5.1 The location off Jakarta.
JAKARTA
61
In Jakarta, we are aiming to reduce flooding

fl
in the
cityy byy 40 percentt byy 2011 and
d byy as much as 75%
byy 2016. Based
d on detailed
d calculations modelling,
these ambitious goals are achievable iff we are able to
increase the proportion off green space in the cityy and
improve waterr catchments and
d groundwaterr recharge
in accordance with the Jakarta Spatiall Plan forr 2030.
However, itt is importantt to keep in mind
d thatt flood
managementt requires nott onlyy local, butt also regional,
nationall and
d globall eff
fforts, and
d so we welcome
cooperation in managing watersheds thatt transcend
ourr citys boundaries.
Fauzii Bowo, Governorr off Jakarta, Indonesia
From the geomorphologicc pointt off view, Jakarta consists of

alluviall plain and
d coastall landform, where thirteen rivers flow
fl
through Jakarta city. This physicall condition increases the flood
fl
hazard
d and
d vulnerability. Rapid
d change off land
d use on the upper
partt off Jakarta and
d rapid
d industriall developmentt contribute
signifificantlyy to increasing surface run off
ff leads to extensive flood
fl
inundation. In the future, with scenario off climate change, flood
eventt are predicted
d to worser. Therefore an integrated
d watershed
and
d coastall zone management, using regional, ecological
and
d spatiall approaches, which is also take into account
coordination among the locall governments surrounding Jakarta
(Jabodetabek, Jakarta-Bogor-Depok-Tangerang-Bekasi), is
required.
Professorr Dr. Suratman, M.Sc, Dean off the Geographyy Faculty,
Gadjah Mada Universityy Yogyakarta, Chairman off the
Indonesian Geographers Association
Presentt
situation
2
5
Jakarta, the capital and largest city off Indonesia, is
located on the northern coast off the island off Java, in a
lowland area with relatively flat topography. Jakarta is

located in the delta off several rivers. Thirteen rivers flow
fl
through the region, the main one being the Ciliwung
(Figure 5.2). The Special Capital Region off Jakarta (DKI
Jakarta) covers an area off about 662 km2. Over the last
halff century the citys population rose rapidly from
2.7 million in 1960 to 9 million in 2007.J1 GDP projections
for Indonesia as a whole show overall growth rates of
4.5 percent per year between the periods 2005 and
2030, and the population off Jakarta is expected to
grow from 8.8 million to up to 25 million by 2025. This
population growth, combined with rapid economic
development, has caused extensive land use change in
the whole off Java and in Jakarta in particular. During the
past three decades, fringe areas experienced extensive
land conversion from agricultural land to new urban and
industrial areas,J2, J3 former residential areas in the city
centre have been converted into offices
ffi
and business
spaces, and open green space in Jakarta has greatly
decreased from 28.8 percent off the total area in 1984 to
an estimated 6.2 percent in 2007.J4
#ENGKARENG $RAIN
"ANJIR+ANAL "ARAT
+-OOKERVART

#AKUNG$RAIN
+ !NGKE
2ENC "ANJIR+ANAL 4IMUR
+ 0ESANGGRAHAN
+#AKUNG

+ 'ROGOL
+ *ATI+RAMAT
+ +RUKUT
+"UARAN

+"ARU

"RT
+ 3UNTER
+#ILIWUNG

+#IPINANG

Figure 5.2 Map showing the thirteen rivers flo

fl
JAKARTA
+"ARU

4MR
63
Figure 5.3 Ciliwung River and adjacent slum settlements.
Figure 5.4 Flood simulation of Ciliwung River for 1.5m and 2m inundation scenarios.
Climate and
flood risks
3
problems, the rapid deforestation and urbanization has

led to increased flood
fl
peaks and erosion, resulting in
sedimentation in the citys rivers and drainage canals.
Urbanization has also resulted in the narrowing off river
basins and floodplains,
fl
reducing the discharge capacity
off rivers during peakk events. In addition to these
problems, huge amounts off garbage clog up Jakartas
rivers and drainage canals, partly due to the lackk off a
coordinated refuse collection system for large parts of
the city. Overflo
fl wing rivers cause inundation off adjacent
settlements, especially the slum settlements (Figure 5.3).
Figure 5.4 shows the simulated extent off a flood
fl
up
to 2 m in the area near the Kampong Melayu due to
overflowing
fl
waters from the Ciliwung River. J11
5
The physical causes off flooding in Jakarta are several and
interlinked and include land subsidence, climate change,
land use change, and clogged-up rivers and drainage
canals. Jakarta is subsiding rapidly, with an average
subsidence rate off 4 cm per year in northern Jakarta,
and areas where the subsidence rate is even higher.J6 On
top off this, the climate is changing, which is expected to
cause an increase in the frequency off both river flooding
fl
and coastal flooding.
fl
Climate models project that annual
rainfall will increase across most off Indonesia in the
future,J7 and that extreme rainfall events will increase
in severity and frequency in South-East Asia in the
21st century.J8 In recent decades, sea level in the Jakarta
Bay has risen by about 0.5 cm per year.J9 Furthermore,
tropical cyclones are predicted off increased intensities
for South-East Asia,J10 which could lead to increased
storm surge frequencies and heights.J8 Next to these
JAKARTA
65
Figure 5.5 Maintaining the drainage system and channels off the citys
waterways. Trash rackk at Manggarai Flood Gate, Southern Jakarta,
before and after cleaning. J13
Related sustainability and environmental aspects

Several important sustainability and environmental
aspects are related to the flood problem. One of
Jakartas major problems is that off traffi
ffic and chronic
congestion, described by many as the citys most
significan
fi
urban nightmare.J12 During floods, this
problem is made even worse: for example, during
the floods off 2002 and 2007, massive traffic
ffi jams
hampered evacuation, with major thoroughfares being
brought to a complete standstill for days. Train and air
services were badley aff
ffected, with around 80 percent
off flights at the Soekarno-Halta Airport being delayed
in 2002.
Solid waste is another related environmental issue in
Jakarta; off the ca. 23,400 m3 off garbage produced each
day,
y only 14,700 are disposed off by the City Sanitation
Office.
ffi J12 Large amounts off this garbage end up in
the citys waterways, clogging up drainage channels
(Figure 5.5). Poor coverage off piped clean water
remains a key problem; a mere 40 percent off the
citys supply is estimated to be piped, with ca.
40 percent coming from bore-holes, and ca. 20 percent
from traditional water vendors. The increasing demand
for water has led to the over-utilization off groundwater
resources, exacerbating the land subsidence (and
therefore flood) problem.
Climate
adaptation
4
Traditionally, government policies on flooding

in Jakarta have emphazised protection based on
technical measures, such as canals, dams, and
sluices. Today, such measures continue to form an
important part off Jakartas adaptation plan. One of
the ways in which floods will be reduced by 2011 is
through the dredging off 13 rivers and 56 drainage
canals and the Eastern and Western Canals. By 2016,
several developments are planned: the construction
off channels and tunnels to linkk the Western and
Eastern Flood Canals; construction off a polder
system; the rehabilitation off existing reservoirs and
lakes; construction off a new reservoir; floodplain
fl
conservation and re-greening (Figure 5.6); and
improving the existing breakwater to prevent the
impact off tide water. The Jakarta Public Works Agency
has also introduced a project to dredge and remove
Figure 5.6 Re-greening off floodplain areas to increase

water retention.
JAKARTA
67
Figure 5.7 Flood marker in a settlement area

to preserve flood awareness among citizens.
(Figure 5.7). Furthermore, nature restoration schemes

are being heralded as innovative ways to protect
against flooding. In Jakarta, mangrove conservation
is considered a good way to protect the coastal
area, not only in terms off flood protection, but also
from a sustainability point off view. The Ministry of
Forestry has developed a programme to increase the
area off mangroves in the coastal area near Jakarta;
in some areas these had almost disappeared due to
deforestation.
Figure 5.8 Strengthening the capacity off communities through

training, education, and discussion.
sediments and waste from the citys rivers and

drainage canals (Figure 5.5). On a less technical level,
people living in informal settlements and in the city
outskirts have installed simple structural devices such
as small dams to protect their houses from tidal floods,
fl
and are building storage areas on the second storey of
houses to avoid flood damage (Figure 5.9).
In recent years, there has also been more investment
in non-structural measures such as awarenessraising programmes; law enforcement and early
warning and emergency assistance systems; upper
watershed planning and management; training for
strengthening community capacity (Figure 5.8); and
installing flood signs to preserve citizens awareness
JAKARTA
Interaction off climate and water issues

with spatial planning
At present, Jakarta is working toward the integration
off spatial planning and flood
fl
management. These
issues were discussed when policymakers from Jakarta
fl
riskk in New
attended the CDC symposium on flood
Yorkk City in 2009. In this regard, flood riskk management
plays a key role. Two key components to a successful
fl
flood
riskk management plan are: (a) flood
fl
riskk maps
showing how riskk will change spatially; and (b)
assessments off how flood riskk mapping can play a role
in the decision-making process and communication
with stakeholders. Both off these issues are to be
covered in an upcoming research programme as part
off the Dutch programme Knowledge for Climate. The
CDC networkk will play a role in embedding knowledge
exchange between cities. A preliminary flood
fl
damage model has already been set up by Gadjah
Mada University Yogyakarta (Indonesia) and IVM-VU
University Amsterdam (Netherlands). Based on this
model, Figure 5.10 shows the area off northern Jakarta
that would be inundated as a result off an extreme
coastal flood
fl
with a return period off one hundred
years under: (a) current conditions; and (b) a future
scenario in 2100 whereby land subsidence continues
69
Figure 5.9 Houses with storage areas on second storey

to avoid flood damage.
at 4 cm per year and the sea level rises by 59 cm. The

total value off assets exposed to such a flood
fl
under
current conditions is estimated at about 4 billion,
whilst the scenario for 2100 estimates an exposure of
almost 17 billion (excluding the effects
ff
off changes in
future population and land use, and socioeconomic
developments). In the coming years, more flood
fl
risk
maps off this nature will be developed to show how
fl
flood
inundation and riskk will change over time, and to
assist in the integration off spatial planning and flood
fl
management.
Figure 5.10 Inundation maps off northern Jakarta for

two coastal flood scenarios.
A) Current conditions
Sea and permanent water bodies
Delta Dialogues
2008 - 2009
In 2008 and 2009, a series off four meetings (Delta

Dialogues) were held out in which Indonesian
decision makers at national, regional, and local
levels, civil society stakeholders, and experts
from Jakarta and the Netherlands where brought
together. Through a systematic discussion on
flood risks in Jakarta, opinions were shared and
people learned about each others perceptions
and interests. As no formal agenda or political
decisions were involved, participants could
freely brainstorm and share views. Based on the
Dialogues, a long-term vision was formulated
on how to reduce flood
fl
risks taking into account
land subsidence, climate change and other
causal mechanisms. Vietnamese specialists
were also involved in the Dialogues, and this
international exchange off knowledge and
experience led to the beginnings off IndonesianVietnamese collaboration.
B) Includes sea level rise and land subsidence
Inundated area
JAKARTA
71
London
by Alex Nickson
Introduction
In the last decade, London has experienced

floods that have damaged homes and
infrastructure, a heat wave that killed
600 Londoners and a drought that led to
the construction of a desalination plant.
Climate change is expected to increase the
frequency and intensity of these existing
risks, which unless London adapts, will
increasingly affect the citys prosperity,
the quality of life of its inhabitants and
ultimately Londons reputation as a leading
world city.
Preparing ourr greatt cityy forr the effects

ff
off climate change
and
d adapting ourr homes and
d workplaces willl improve
Londoners qualityy off life, with more trees, and
d better
designed, greenerr publicc spaces. This willl create new
w jobs
and
d industries and
d reinforce the capitals position as the
numberr one place to do green business.
Boris Johnson
The Mayorr off London
LONDON
73
We have quantified the synergies and conflicts between

adaptation to climate change and mitigation of carbon
emissions, for example by examining the contribution
that urban energy use makes to the urban heat island.
We are using our integrated systems modelling to
understand how policies can be devised that yield
benefits in relation to a number of objectives and avoid
undesirable side-effects.
Professor Jim Hall, Professor of Earth Systems Engineering,
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Newcastle
University
Presentt
situation
2
6
From a peakk off 8.8 million in 1939, Londons
population steadily declined to 6.7 million in 1988.
Since then, the population has grown steadily to
7.6 million today and is expected to keep growing
to around 8.9 million by 2031.L1 Nearly all off this
growth will be accommodated on brownfield
fi
sites,
or further densification
fi
off development around high
transport accessibility nodes. This approach leads to a
compact, dense city, but also intensifies
fi vulnerability
by concentrating a high number off people and assets
within a relatively small area.
buffered
ff
from the continental climate by the Gulf
Stream, and thus has a marine climate. This means
that winters are less cold and summers are less hot.
This reduced seasonal variation is one off the key
reasons why much off the UK
K is poorly adapted to
extreme weather, as wide seasonal variations are very
uncommon and generally short-lived.
London sits astride the River Thames. While not a

traditional delta, the capital is further bisected by
12 tributaries and the tidal infl
fluence off the North Sea
extends almost entirely through the city.
London, as with much off the United Kingdom, is
LONDON
75
Climate and
flood risks
3
6
Drought
Eighty percent off Londons water comes from the River
Thames and River Lea and 20 percent from the confined
fi
chalkk aquifer under the city. The Thames Basin is the
largest river basin in the southeast off England. As such,
it offers
ff a more dependable supply off water during
droughts than other catchments in the Southeast, as it

is able to collect more water.
The Thames Basin receives an average off 690 mm of
rainfall per year. Off this, two-thirds is lost to evaporation
or transpired by plants. 55 percent off the remaining
effective
ff
rainfall is then abstracted for use, one of
the highest amounts in the country. 82 percent of
the abstracted water is for public supply, with half
off this supplied to households and a quarter to non
households. The remainder is lost in leakage. This
sequence is shown diagrammatically in Figure 6.1 below.
The Environment Agency has classified
fi the whole
of southeast England as severely water stressed.
This means that the amount off water abstracted to
meet demands today is causing actual damage to
the environment. Under the EU Water Framework
Directive (WFD),L2 water companies must contribute
to improving the quality off water bodies, which will in
effect
ff limit the abstraction from some watercourses,
meaning that water supply may fall as unmanaged
demand is likely to increase. The Environment Agency
is currently assessing what level off sustainability
reductions will be required to meet the WFD
requirements.

%VAPORATION
ANDUSEDBY
GROWING PLANTS
2EQUIREDTOPROTECT
THENATURALENVIRONMENT

5SEINAGRICULTURE
INDUSTRYANDFOR
OTHERPURPOSES

%FFECTIVERAINFALL
2AINFALL
Figure 6.1 Diagram from draft water strategy.
7ATERAVAILABLEFOR
SUPPLY
0UBLICSUPPLY
%FFECTIVERAINFALL
7ATERAVAILABLE
5SEDBYBUSINESS
HOSPITALSHOTELS
SCHOOLSANDFOROTHER
PURPOSES
(OUSEHOLDUSE
0UBLICSUPPLY
found that their resource plans have not been fully

funded. This can mean there is a potential for short
term financial
fi
aspects to dominate the longer-term
sustainability off balancing supply and demand.
Catchments
GLA boundary
be affected
ff
by flooding
fl
<1:20
1:75 - 1:100
1:20 - 1:50
1:1000
Flood risk
fl
from three key
London is vulnerable to flooding
sources: tidal flooding when tidal surges combine
with high tides and onshore winds, fluvial
fl
flooding
from the freshwater rivers in London; and surface
water flooding, when heavy rainfall overcomes the
drainage system.
Figures 6.4 and 6.5 show the observed monthly rainfall
and temperature for London for the period 1961-1990
(grey bars) and then the projected changes to these
variables for the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s (coloured
lines). It can be seen that in the future rainfall becomes
Figure 6.2 Standard off protection provided by the tidal and fl

fluvial
deforces.
The UK
K water sector was privatized in the UK
K in the
early 1990s. Four private water companies supply
London with water but only one manages Londons
wastewater. The water companies are required to
produce Water Resource Management Plans (WRMPs),
which provide a long-term (25 year) perspective on
how the companies will balance their supply and
demand for water. In parallel, the water companies
must also prepare business plans, setting out how
they will fund their WRMPs over a 5-year period. The
Environment Agency assesses the WRMPs and OfWat
(the financial
fi
regulator for water companies) assesses
their business plans. There is a statutory requirement
for the water companies to deliver their business
plan, but not their WRMP. In this round or resource
and business planning, several water companies have
LONDON
77
more seasonal and that all seasons experience a

significant warming.
London is protected from flooding by a series of flood
defences and the citys drainage system. 15 percent
of Londons area lies on the former floodplains of
Londons rivers. The standard of protection provided
by the flood defences and the area they protect can
be mapped and the assets that lie on the protected
flood plains plotted. Figure 6.2 shows the standard of
protection provided by the tidal and fluvial defences.
It can be seen that there is a very variable standard
of protection, with the tidal defences providing a
high standard of defence to the tidal floodplain
(green shaded area), but that protection on some of
the tributaries to the Thames having a much lower
standard of defence (red shaded areas). The standard
of protection provided by the drainage system is
much lower, commonly between 3-5 percent annual
expected probability.
An analysis of who and what is at flood risk today,
shows that a significant proportion of Londons critical
infrastructure lies in areas of flood risk and also in
addition that some of the poorest Londoners are living
in areas of tidal flood risk. This is important because
it underlines that much of the infrastructure London
would rely on in the event of a flood is at risk and that
the most vulnerable part of the population also live in
at risk areas.
Overheating
Summers in London are rarely hot enough to cause
a significant health impact. However, it is this rare
exposure to high temperatures in combination with
the poor ability of much of Londons housing stock
to maintain comfortable temperatures that causes
Londoners vulnerability to high temperatures. The
August 2003 heatwave caused the deaths of 600

Londoners. An analysis L3 of the health impact of the
heatwave across all the UK regions showed that while
London did not experience the highest temperatures,
it did result in the highest number of deaths when
averaged over the population. It is proposed that the
urban heat island (UHI) effect was a key factor in this
excess mortality, as the UHI prevented the city from
cooling off overnight and maintained temperatures at
a threshold too high for vulnerable people to recover
sufficiently from the heat of the day.
to prevent a climate impact (such as a flood)

fl
from
occurring.
Climate
adaptation
4
As part off the public consultation on the LCCAS, the

Mayor used digital media channels to askk Londoners
what they could and should do as individuals, or
neighbourhoods, to adapt. This included using
YouTube to virally disseminate a video L6 off the Mayor
explaining the need to adapt and an interactive
website L7 where Londoners could put forward their
ideas and vote on other peoples ideas (see Figure
6.3). This allowed the Greater London Authority
to reach a wider audience than normally engaged
in policy development and helped raise both
awareness off the issue and ownership off the risk.
Figure 6.3 Website: www.london.gov.uk/climatechange
To identify the climate risks and opportunities facing

London, and to provide a frameworkk to prepare
London for climate change, the Mayor off London is
developing a climate change adaptation strategy
for the city.L4 The strategy assesses the climate risks
to London today, and then uses climate projections
to understand how these risks change, or new
opportunities arise, as a result off climate change.
The London Climate Change Adaptation Strategy
(LCCAS) uses the Disaster Riskk Reduction framework L5 off prevent, prepare, respond, recover to
categorie the actions. This approach encourages
decision makers to undertake some level of
adaptation activity despite the uncertainty off climate
projections, and also to consider how to manage
the residual riskk that exists even iff the strategy is
LONDON
79
2 AI NF AL L MM MONT H
Average Monthly Rainfall

Medium Emissions Scenario 2040 - 2060s

*
&
"ASELINE2AINFALL
S
3
S
S
Average Monthly Maximum Temperature

Medium Emissions Scenario 2040 - 2060s

4 EMPER AT UR E #

*
&
"ASELINE4EMPERATURE
*
S
3
S
S
Figure 6.4 and 6.5 Baseline London climate (grey bars) 1961-1990, and projected future climate (generated using UKCP09 50% projections).
From strategy
to delivery
5
6
London is undertaking a wide range
of adaptation actions, the following examples
of which are transferable and scalable to
other cities.
Thames Estuary 2100 (TE2100)

The UK Environment Agency has undertaken a study
to identify the flood risk management options for
protecting London and the Thames Estuary from
tidal flooding to the end of the century.L8 The project
has identified a range of possible options from
raising the height of existing defences to constructing
a second Thames Barrier and assesses the level
of protection that each option can provide. The
LONDON
thresholds for protection against rising sea levels

provided by each of the options are then plotted
against sea level rise. This approach helps decision
makers to understand the suite of options open to
them, and how they can be combined into a decision
pathways to create a portfolio of measures through
the century.
Figure 6.6 shows the TE2100 decisions pathway. Each
box represents a flood risk management option or
series of options and the maximum level of water
level rise they can protect against. This approach can
be replicated for managing other impacts, including
droughts and overheating.
Water neutrality
The Greater London Authority has been working with
the Environment Agency to look at how to balance
Londons water supply in the face of increasing
demand and declining supplies. The aim is to improve
the water efficiency of Londons existing stock of
3 million homes to provide water for the future
growing population referred to as water neutrality.
In principle this means no net increase in demand
despite a growth in the number of inhabitants. To
deliver these water savings, the GLA is working with
the 33 London boroughs, the 4 water companies and
the energy companies on a programme to retrofit
water and energy efficiency measures into Londoners
homes at no cost to the householder. The aim is to
retrofit up to 1.2 million homes by 2015. The ultimate
vision is to expand water neutrality to water security,
where sufficient savings are made to provide a buffer
against the impact of climate change on water
supplies (including the sustainability reductions
referred to above).
81
-AXIMUMWATERLEVELRISE
0m
1m
2m
3m
4m
)MPROVEDEFENCES
)MPROVE4HAMES"ARRIERANDRAISEDSDEFENCE
/VER ROTATE4HAMES
"ARRIERANDRESTORE
INTERIMDEFENCES
&LOODSTORAGEIMPROVE4HAMES
"ARRIERRAISEUSDSDEFENCES
%XISTINGSYSTEM
-AXIMISESTORAGE
&LOODSTORAGEOVERROTATE4HAMES
"ARRIERRAISEUSDSDEFENCES
2AISE
$EFENCES
&LOODSTORAGERESTORE
INTERIMDEFENCES
.EW"ARRIER
Figure 6.6 The TE2100 decisions pathway.
.EWBARRIERRAISEDEFENCES
.EWBARRAGE
High ++ 2100
Defra 2100
.EWBARRIERRETAIN4HAMES"ARRIERRAISEDEFENCES
Drain London
Surface water flood riskk is considered to be the
most significant
fi
short-term climate riskk to London.
Modelling L9 suggests that a one in a twohundred
years rainstorm event today would flood up to 680,000
properties in London. A study on Londons drainage
system L10 concluded that even a small increase in
rainfall could require the significant
fi
modification
fi
of
the drainage system to maintain current levels of
service.
To manage this existing and increasing risk, the
Greater London Authority has brought together all the
organizations with responsibility for, and information
on, surface water flood riskk management and created
a frameworkk to facilitate collaborative action. The
Drain London project will help every London borough
produce its own surface water management plan
(SWMP), but ensures that the individual SWMPs are
created in coherence with the SWMPs off neighbouring
borough. The project will also identify and prioritize
the regional flood riskk hotspots, and workk to develop
more detailed plans for the priority areas.
Urban greening programme
Workk on developing the LCCAS has highlighted that it
is the urban realm and land cover that intensifies
fi many
off the climate impacts. For example, it is the loss of
permeability caused by the traditional construction of
roads and buildings that causes flash
fl
fl
flooding,
and the
loss off vegetation helps create the UHI effect.
ff
The Greater London Authority is developing an urban
greening programme to offset
ff the loss off vegetation
and so manage the climate risks. The Mayor has set
a target off increasing green cover in Central London
LONDON
by 10 percent by 2050 and increasing London-wide

tree cover by 5 percent (an additional 2 million trees
by 2030). It is anticipated that this urban greening will
help cool the city in summer and reduce the frequency
and intensity off floods. The Greater London Authority
is also working with the Environment Agency and
the River Restoration Centre to restore 15 kilometres
off Londons rivers, L11 increasing flood storage and
improving riparian habitat.
Integrating perspectives on adaptation
The various perspectives on adaptation that are
outlined above cannot be addressed in isolation. They
interact with one another, in particular via urban land
use. Opportunities exist for integrated approaches,
which provide resilience to a number off climate risks.
However, the interactions between different
ff
risks and
83
Figure 6.7
urban functions can be rather complex.

In order to understand these interactions and
provide the evidence needed to underpin integrated
adaptation solutions, the Tyndall Centre for Climate
Change Research has been working with the
Greater London Authority to develop an Urban
Integrated Assessment Facility (UIAF), which simulates
the main processes off long-term change in London
(see Figure 6.8).
The UIAF couples a series off simulation modules
within a scenario and policy analysis framework. The
UIAF is driven by global and national scenarios of
climate and socioeconomic change, which feed into
models off the regional economy and land use change.
Simulations off climate, land use and socioeconomic
change inform analysis off carbon dioxide emissions
(focussing upon energy, personal transport and
freight transport) and the impacts off climate change
(focussing on heat waves, droughts and floods).
The final
fi component off the UIAF is the integrated
assessment tool that provides the interface between
the modelling components, the results and the enduser. This tool has enabled a number off adaptation and
mitigation options to be explored within an integrated
framework.
Legend
Water
Current Development
Census CAS Wards
Undeveloped Land
Future Development
Figure 6.8 Tyndall Centre simulations off land use in East London on
a 100 100 m grid showing existing and future developments i under
the baseline land use paradigm,ii under conditions where a policy to
reduce exposure to flood riskk has led to a ban on future floodplain
development.
LONDON
85
New Orleans
7
by David Waggonner and Andy Sternad
Introduction
New Orleans is the present-day test case

for world delta cities. In 2005, Hurricane
Katrina brought about the failure of the
levee system, flooding 80 percent of the
city and forcing prolonged evacuation of
almost the entire population. Five years later,
BPs Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded
south of the city, unleashing a torrent of oil
from the reservoir beneath the ocean floor,
threatening fragile, protective wetlands
critical to the regions economy, culture
and storm protection. With rising seas and
sinking land, a place integral to American
history and world culture struggling to
reinvent itself and reverse its decline.
The reason were here in the first place is because theres

water here. Instead of turning our backs, barricading
ourselves, and treating the water like an enemy, lets
treat it like the friend that it can be and should be
encouraging the beauty, better environmental standards,
and value for the people (that come with that approach).
Mary Landrieu, United States Senator for the State of
Louisiana, the USA
NEW ORLEANS
87
DD3 Workshop
The Dutch Dialogues workshops are the
outgrowth of extended interactions between
Dutch engineers, urban designers, landscape
architects, city planners and soils/hydrology
experts and, primarily, their Louisiana
counterparts. The efforts of the Dutch Dialogues
derive from the participants unwavering belief
that New Orleans can survive and prosper and
grow only when it gets certain fundamentals in
order. Dutch Dialogues exposes and hopefully
addresses some of those fundamentals.
Safety First is the key to organizing water
management principle in the Netherlands.
History repeatedly shows the folly of living in a
delta where disasters are common. However, to
ignore the waters magic the unique, abundant
opportunities that can and should be exploited
for economic, societal and cultural gain is
equally foolhardy. Living with the water has
recently become an ordering, corollary principle
of Dutch policy. Adapting a living with the
water principle is necessary in post-Katrina
New Orleans. The Dutch Dialogues posits that
both safety and amenity from water are crucial to
a future in which New Orleans is robust, vibrant
and secure.
The Mississippi River stretches north into Canada and

South to the Gulf of Mexico, east into New York and North
Carolina and west to Idaho and New Mexico. It drains 31
states and 2 Canadian provinces. It exceeds by 20 percent
Chinas Yellow River, is double that of the Nile and Ganges,
fifteen times that of the Rhine. In terms of agricultural and
industrial productivity it is by far the most important river
valley in the world. The river system is America. It directed
the nations expansion across the continent.
It spurred technological developments in fields as diverse
as architecture, experimental physics, and metallurgy.
It created great fortunes. It determined the path of
demographic movement. Through blues and jazz, through
Mark Twain and Richard Wright and William Faulkner, it
created Americas soul.
John Barry, author of the award-winning book Rising Tide:
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed
America
Present
situation
2
On the delta the Mississippi flows higher than its

surroundings on land off its own creation. The historic
French Quarter sits on the slope off the Mississippi levee
created as spring floods deposited coarse sediments
near its banks. As flood water spread out and slowed
down, lighter clays and fine
fi silt were loosely deposited
further away. The result is a natural high ground around
15 feet above sea level along the river, that slopes gently
downhill, almost imperceptibly, to the backswamp and
Lake Pontchartrain at sea level a few miles away. Ridges
off high ground sometimes only a few feet above sea
level created by former distributary channels off the
river crisscross the landscape. New Orleans originally
developed along these tenuous bands off elevated earth,
and as evidence off early inhabitants now-forgotten
environmental understanding the historic parts off the
city largely escaped Katrinas inundation.
General characteristics
New Orleans is a city on the edge, but it exists for
a reason. Guided by the native inhabitants in 1718,
French colonist Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville
founded New Orleans at its present location on the
relatively high natural levee along the Mississippi River.
Convenient and strategic access to the sea through
Bayou St. John and Lake Pontchartrain meant that
New Orleans could receive ocean-going commerce
in addition to the river trade that chugged past its
banks. According to historical geographer Richard
Campanella, the site (Bienville) finally selected
represented the best available site within a fantastic
geographical situation. Although the area was
predominantly marshland and prone to river flooding
fl
and intense storms, a city at the mouth off the greatest
water highway on the continent was inevitable.
Figure 7.1 Mississippi River Delta. New Orleans Metro Area at center.
NEW ORLEANS
89
Figure 7.2 19th century map of New Orleans. Note the compact city near the river with the backswamp and Lake Pontchartrain behind it.
Culture
New Orleans complex identity was formed from
people of different backgrounds sharing slender
dry space alongside the river. With the slaves the
early underpinnings of voodoo, blues and jazz
were imported from Africa. Elaborate Mardi Gras
celebrations grew out of French Catholic and African
traditions. Culinary specialties, then as now, rely
on local seafood bounties. As a growing centre of
world commerce, the city also attracted immigrants
in numbers second only to New York.NO1 Iconoclasts
and slaves lived side by side at the river mouth where

North America met the sea. Europeans 4 (Spanish,
French, Irish and Germans) African slaves and free
people of colour, French Creoles and American
entrepreneurs from across the country coexisted to
take advantage of the citys promise.
Before the advent of pumping and drainage
technology, the regions vernacular architecture
blended European styles with practical, climateresponsive strategies. French and Spanish influences
are evident in the scale, streetscape and courtyards

off the French Quarter. New Orleanss characteristic
shotgun houses long and narrow for cross
ventilation were often constructed using dismantled
river barges. Most structures, especially outside the
city centre, were elevated off
ff the ground.
At the time off Katrina in 2005, New Orleans had a
population off 437,186, down from a peakk off 626,525
around 1960, a reduction off approximately 30 percent.
Over the same period, despite population loss, the
citys area increased from approximately 100 square
miles to its current size off 180 square miles.NO2 Since
Katrina the population has fallen an additional twenty
percent, but even before the storm New Orleans was
facing issues off contraction, underpopulation and
decline.NO3
Economy
South-eastern Louisianas economy is focused around
the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries, shipping
traffi
ffic, seafood and tourism. Petrochemical production
provides over $12 billion annually in household
earnings throughout the state. More than 25 percent
off the nations ocean bound exports pass through
Louisianas ports, and a quarter off all commercial
fi
fishing
catches in America land in Louisiana.
Additionally, tourism generates $5.2 billion statewide, mostly in New Orleans, which was recently rated
the worlds premier nightlife hotspot. Digital media,
fi
film-making,
and the water sector are emerging
industries.NO4, NO5
NEW ORLEANS
91
Climate and
flood risks
3
prosperity, yet it also challenges the citys very

existence. In order to exploit its potential, generations
off New Orleanians have built levees, dug canals,
and pumped, drained and diverted water across the
land to fortify the city against natures persistent
threat, defensive strategies that have sometimes
also counteracted natural processes. In 1866, US Civil
War general A.A. Humphreys became chieff off the
US Army Corps off Engineers and developed a policy
that predominantly involved the development off a
levee system. In 1913, highly efficient
ffi
screw pumps
were invented by Albert Baldwin Wood and installed
at outfall canals that drained the backswamp to the
lake. With the deployment off these powerful pumps,
the New Orleans drainage system was the most
technologically advanced system in the world.NO9
At 30 degrees north latitude, the region is squarely

subtropical. Average annual temperatures fluctuate
between 91F (33C) in the summer and 43F (6C)
in twinter, with annual rainfall totals typically
exceeding 60 inches (152 cm).NO6 In addition to
characteristically hot and humid weather, the Gulf
off Mexico routinely experiences intense hurricanes.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 hit New Orleans almost
directly as a massive category three storm with
sustained winds up to 130 mph and a storm surge
approaching twenty feet.NO7 An average off 11 named
storms pass through the Gulff each year, and over the
next century their frequency and magnitude and the
sea level itselff are projected to increase.NO8
Response to Environment
Water is New Orleans source off sustenance and
NEW ORLEANS
93
With confidence
fi
in this mastered terrain, post-World
War II development near the lakeshore abandoned
the traditional raised housing type and en-vogue,
ranch-style; slab-on-grade houses dominated the
new landscape. Ironically, the newly available land
was below sea level and continually subsiding due to
the same drainage system off levees and pumps that
permitted its development. Today, pile-supported
box culverts remain high while the adjacent land falls
away. Eventually, concrete floodwalls
fl
were required
along the outfall canals to prevent lake surges from
fl
flooding
the city. Despite improvements, street
fl
flooding
commonly occurs during rain storms due in
part to the systems inherent lackk off water storage.
On a macro scale, the flood-proof,
fl
leveed river can
no longer rebuild and sustain delta soils. Dams and
reservoirs far upstream trap fifty
fi percent off the rivers
historical sediment load, and much off the remaining
sediment is channelled past wetlands and over
the continental shelf.NO10 The comprehensive levee
and pump system now encircling the city provides
protection but also seals human development into a
slowly subsiding bowl. All off New Orleanss 150 cm
off rainfall per year must be pumped out and the
dried former backswamp continues to compact and
subside at a rate off anywhere from 5mm to almost
2 cm per year.NO9 At once New Orleanss lifeblood and
primary historical antagonist, water has been covered
up and walled off.
ff
Katrina
Among New Orleans lineage off natural disasters,
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was not only the worst
in the citys history but the most costly ever to occur
in the United States. Damage estimates reached
$125 billion in economic losses on the Gulf

Coast, and $30 billion in the city off New Orleans
alone.NO11 The city lost 70 percent off its urban
canopy,NO12 an estimated number off 100,000 trees.NO13
More than 160,000 homes were destroyed or heavily
damaged and 1,500 lives were lost. Katrina forced
the evacuation off 1.36 million people, creating a New
Orleans diaspora across the continent. The suburban
developments on former backswamp suffered
ff
most,
and subsidence off six to seven feet below sea level
in some places worsened the flood
fl
s effect.
ff
The older
neighbourhoods on high ground on the rivers edge
and ridges suffered
ff
little or minor flooding.NO9
In response to the storm, the US Army Corps
redoubled its levee strengthening efforts.
ff
To date,
the US Congress has released $14.45 billion for the
devoid off storage capacity, is overwhelmed by

recurring rainstorms that can produce two to four
inches off rain an hour.
The use off engineered solutions for narrowly defined
fi
problems has in recent times proven insufficient
ffi
to combat the complex, intertwined challenges
confronting modern delta living. Considering the
fact that climate change may increase the challenges
further, New Orleans may need to embrace a more
holistic, ecologically-based thinking, with the
cultivation off natures own lines off defence, not just
to sustain the citys future but also to avoid that the
adaptation cost continue to increase and perhaps
eventually outweigh the incredible cultural and
economic value off habitation on the Mississippi Delta.
Figure 7.3 Damaged homes in the Lower Ninth Ward.
Louisiana Hurricane Protection System, including

levees and floodwalls;
fl
outfall canal repairs and
closure structures; and pump station repairs and
storm proofing.
fi NO14 With unprecedented speed the
Corps set a world record in realizing the Hurricane
Protection System within approximately 4 years,
around ten times faster than the Dutch built their
Delta Plan in about 40 years after the floods
fl
off 1953.
Full protection from a 100-year storm, equating
to a one percent chance off failure in given year, is
projected by June 2011. The system within the levees
remains unchanged: pumps can handle one inch
off rainfall in the first hour and 0.5 inches in each
subsequent hour. When combined, Orleans Parishs
three outfall canals can discharge 16,000 cubic feet
off water per second, the average flow off the Potomac
River.NO15 Although impressive, this system, practically
NEW ORLEANS
95
Orleans Canal
Lake Pontchartrain
Levee
New Pump Station
Bayou
New Pump Station
London Avenue Canal
Pump Station
Pump Station
Figure 7.4 Dutch Dialogues proposal for part of a

comprehensive water management system in New Orleans.
Climate
adaptation
4
be amplified,
fi
supplemented and built upon in the
years and decades ahead.
The third component off the storm defence and water
management system is the urban water system. Here
the balances between existing and envisioned, manmade and natural can be explored. Implementing
the idea off living with water instead off fighting
against it, the urbanized settlement can over time
be transformed. A shift to cherishing the earth and
the roots it provides, and revealing and revering,
water is envisioned. Crucial balances in the process of
re-evaluation include land and water; habitation and
infrastructure; buildings and open spaces; hard and
permeable surfaces; fresh and salt water gradients;
levees, perimeter defense structures, and storm surge;
and the effect
ff off variable sea level and higher limits
on operating levels for the urban water system.
No place is more in need off a transformative vision

and process for climate change adaptation and water
management than New Orleans and the Mississippi
Delta. After decades off levees and drainage for
fl
flood
protection and navigation, with channels cut
through the marsh for commercial purposes, the
wetlands off south Louisiana are quickly receding. A
shift in paradigms is fortunately underway. Largescale diversions off the rivers flow and sediment
can revive coastal wetlands downstream. Plans and
initiatives to speed and increase these diversions
are in progress. The perimeter defence system built
by the Corps off Engineers around the city, though
more robust than before Katrina, only provides a one
in a hundred years level off protection, perhaps less
than the urban area will need for future safety and
reinvestment. It is nonetheless a base line that must
Figure 7.5 GIWW waterway closure structure. Example off engineering
solutions to complex problems .
NEW ORLEANS
97
Adaptations are fundamental, but conceivable and

ultimately achievable. The planning time frame for
climate adaptation needs to shift from a five-year
horizon to about 50 years. A vision-driven, learningbased approach is nascent, and with nurture can bear
fruit. A recently commenced consensus-based water
strategy is a key step in this transformative process.
To succeed, an integrated approach developed from
a multi-level perspective is required. Change must
encompass the whole system, with targeted starting
points. To succeed, focus should be on windows
off opportunity instead off barriers. Non-interactive
models need to be supplemented and communities
should be engaged and encouraged to participate.
This will also enhance the resiliency off communities.
Ecological memory learning from the past is instructive
and should be recalled.
Several principles and ideas have risen in

consciousness. Lessons have been learned. We must
make space for water. Landscape is not a secondary
idea but a prime contributor to the health and
sustainability off the settlement. Trees and plant
materials are vital to the liveability off this sub-tropical
area. Specific
fi attention must be paid to the underlying
layers off soil and groundwater. Hydrological units
or sub-basins, perhaps developed into polders, are
the district level structure off the city. Planning for
transportation, infrastructure, and water management
should be integrated with spatial planning. There
is an existing urban form with and from which we
build. On a larger public scale, a circulating water
system is essential, multi-purpose infrastructure.
Private as well as public property must contribute to
the water storage solution. New Orleans is inevitably
Key
Above 15 ft in elevation
-5 to 0 ft in elevation
10 to 15 ft in elevation
-10 to -5 ft in elevation
Below -10 ft in elevation
Lower Ninth Ward
Lake Pontchartrain
Figure 7.6 Map off Greater New Orleans.
Figure 7.7 Topographical map off New Orleans. French Quarter in

yellow. All areas in blue are below sea level.
WRDA - IEPR Projects
WRDA IEPR Projects
L
o
WBV 14f.2 Hwy 45

Levee
WBV
V 12 Hero
Canal Levee
Reach 1
Canal 100 - Year

Alternatives
PS Fronting Protection
& Modifications
Loop Caernarvon
Floodwall
Chalmette Loop
Bayou Dupre to
Hwy 46 Levee
Figure 7.8 US Army Corps map off 100-year storm protection upgrades around metro New Orleans.
an ecological borderland. With engaged citizens

providing specific
fi knowledge, a flexible planning
culture and a commitment to learning, innovation
and feedbackk using a science-based, place-based
NEW ORLEANS
approach, an adaptable and highly desirable water city

off an expanded, productive garden type is feasible for
the Mississippi Delta.
99
Hong Kong
by Pieter Pauw and Maria Francesch
Introduction
Hong Kong is situated at the mouth off the delta formed

by the Xijiang (West), Beijiang (North) Dongjiang (East)
and Zhujiang (Pearl) rivers as they enter the South
China Sea. The territory consists off 260 islands spread
around 1,104 square kilometres with a total coastline of
approximately 730 kilometres. Hong Kongs population
grew at a steady rate from 3 million in 1960 to almost
7 million in 2008.HK2 Its economy is based on trade and
services with people working and living on less than
25 percent off Hong Kongs total area. The current gross
national income off US$ 31.420 per capita (comparable
to Spain) and the average life expectancy off 82 clearly
show that Hong Kong is a wealthy part off China.HK2 Hong
Kong has heavy urban development and a very high
population density. Large urbanized areas are located
in low lying areas off the territory, making the city
vulnerable to sea level rise and floods.HK3
Since its foundation, Hong Kong has been

dealing with floods. As the city grows and
develops, the potential consequences
of flooding increase. Simultaneously,
climate change causes sea level rise and
increases the probability of extreme
precipitation. Past, present and planned
adaptation shows how Hong Kong adopted
the challenge of climate change.
Figure 8.1 View from Hong Kong International Airport.
ONG KONG
101
The Pearl River Delta region is one of the most

economically vibrant parts of the world and is also
vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Hong
Kong has to continue to transform itself into a lowcarbon economy to strengthen our resilience towards
climate change and adopt a sustainable development
pathway. The key to this is concerted efforts by Hong
Kong and our partner cities in the region, as well as
cooperation from both the private sector and the
general public.
Mr Edward Yau, Secretary for the Environment
of Hong Kong
The rise of multi-level governance, that is, the diffusion

of decision making across multiple levels of government,
offers two challenges for public administrators. First, is the
allocation of roles to politicians and civil servants in steering
public policy within multilevel regimes simply put, who
governs what? The second challenge is the management of
interfaces between levels of government and the multitude
of organizations involved in these mediations. How can
policies be implemented in a reasonably uniformed way
when such leeway is left to cities governments and to
sectors within them? In analyzing the measures taken so far
in Hong Kong in relation to climate change, one observes
that the transition from a sectoral and technological
governance approach towards an integrated and interactive
approach is being realized as the city benefits from
networking with other delta cities.
Dr. Maria Francesch, City University of Hong Kong
The electricity use is expected to rise further due to the

increasing temperatures in Hong Kong.HK7 In 2007
99.8 percent off the energy consumed was imported.HK8
This makes Hong Kong dependent on others at times
off increasing temperatures and electricity use.
Present
situation
2
Water
Water is threatening Hong Kong from all sides
(precipitation extremes, river discharge, sea level rise,
rising groundwater tables), but at the same time the
city has a long-standing problem off drinking water
shortages. In 1863 the British already built a first
freshwater reservoir as local streams and wells did not
provide sufficient
ffi
water for the growing population.
Currently the natural storage capacity is limited
and only a quarter off the water supply is provided
locally (Figure 8.5). The water demand is expected to
Natural resources
The territorys large population and wealth places
high demands on water, energy, food and raw
materials, for which Hong Kong is almost completely
reliant on imports. This makes the coastal city
susceptible to climate stressors hitting these other
areas as well.HK5 Energy and water are off particular
importance.
Energy
Per-capita energy consumption in has more than
tripled between 1971 and 2006.HK2 Electricity demand
for air-conditioning for example increased to
29 percent off the total electricity use in 2007.HK6
Figure 8.2 Map off Hong Kong.HK4
HONG KONG
103
continue to rise under the pressures on an increasing

population and increasing temperatures. At the same
time, importing water becomes more difficult,
ffi
as
climate change and economic development could

also cause a potential water shortage problem in
Guangdong where demand is outstripping supply.HK9
Figure 8.3 Resources and freshwater consumption 1997-2008.HK10
Resources and fresh water annual consumption

1200
1100
1000
900
800
700
Mm3
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
Year
Local Yield
DongJiang Water Supply from Guangdong
Local Yield + DongJiang Water Supply from Guangdong
Fresh Water Annual Consumption
2005
2006
2007
2008
15 and 7 in 1980-1999 to 45 and 17 in 2090-2099 in a

constant urbanization scenario.HK13
Climate and
flood risks
3
8
Hong Kong has a subtropical climate with average
temperatures between 16C and 28C over the year,
and average annual precipitation levels off 1700-2800
mm.HK11 Records show that Hong Kong has been
warming up since measurements started in 1884.
Between 1980 and 2009, rural areas warmed up at a
rate off around 0.2C per decade. In the heart off urban
Hong Kong, however, the corresponding rise was
much higher at around 0.6C per decade. This 0.4C
difference
ff
can be attributed to the heat island effect
ff
through which the high density urban area absorbs
and retains heat.HK12 Compared with 1980-1999,
the temperature is projected to increase by +4.4C
to +5.2C in 2090-2099 depending on the level of
urbanization. Furthermore, the number off cold days
per year will be virtually nil and the number off hot
days and nights will increase dramatically from
HONG KONG
It is likely that temperature rise will increase the citys

energy use. It might also be conducive to extreme
events like heavy precipitation and consequent
fl
flooding.
Although the number off tropical cyclones
affecting
ff
Hong Kong has decreased during the
period 1961 to 2002, the annual rainfall and the
number off heavy rain days have increased during
the period 1947 to 2002.HK12
It is likely that an increase in temperature will
increase the energy use in the city. The rise in
temperature might also be conducive to extreme
events like heavy precipitation and consequent
fl
flooding.
Figure 8.4 One off the earliest sketches off Hong Kong (1842).
The view is from Victoria Harbour looking towards the Victoria
Peak.
105
Figure 8.6 Parked cars swept away by floodwater in 1966.
Figure 8.5 Flooding due to a heavy rainfall event in central Hong

Kong, 1880s.HK15
Figure 8.7 In 1972 a monsoon triggered a landslide of 40.000 cubic

meters in Po Shan Road, Hong Kong Island.HK15
24.5
24.0
1885-2009 +0.12C/decade
1947-2009 +0.16C/decade
1980-2009 +0.28C/decade
Temperature (C)
23.5
23.0
22.5
22.0
21.5
21.0
1885
1895
1905
1915
1925
1935
1945
1955
1965
1975
1985
1995
2005
Year
Figure 8.8 Annual mean temperature recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory Headquarters (1885-2009). Data are not available from 1940 to 1946
(Source: Hong Kong Observatory).
Sea level rise

The Guangdong Province, with Hong Kong located
in the middle off its coastline, predicts a sea level rise
between 9 cm and 31 cm by the year 2030. This will
also cause river levels to rise. Rising sea and river
levels reduce the defense capacities against flooding
fl
and storms. This could inundate the coastal areas and
cause more sea tidal surges. Exacerbated flooding in
its turn would affect
ff the economy, public works and
promote the spread off disease.HK5, HK9 Saline water
intrusion is not really an issue in Hong Kong. Most of
the fresh water supply is imported, and the agricultural
and industrial sectors have almost been phased out
throughout Hong Kong.
HONG KONG
Flooding
In Hong Kong, typhoons and consequent fl
floods have
been a recurring phenomenon through history:
Q An unnamed typhoon in 1906 caused vast
damage to Hong Kong and resulted in a death toll

off around 10,000 (90 percent off whom were boat
people). A shockingly high figure
fi
for the community off less than 450,000 people at that time.HK14
Q The villages along the coast off Tolo Harbour were
severely flooded by the storm surge of the Great

Hong Kong Typhoon in 1937. Over 10.000 lives
were lost. The surge was about 3.8 metres.HK14
107
Q Typhoon Wanda (1962) coincided with a high tide,
causing a tidal wave as high as 7 metres high.

The effect was disastrous, with over 130 dead
and 72,000 people left homeless.HK15
recurring in 1962. In recent years, Hong Kong has

invested heavily in measures to prevent present and
future flooding (see Flood protection page 107).
Q Typhoon Rose came with extreme rainfall, with on
17 August 1971, alone 288 mm of rain, resulting in

flooding and landslides. 100 people were killed and
5,644 left homeless.HK15
Q June 2008 had the heaviest rainfall in Hong Kong
history, with a month total of 1346 mm. A Black

Rainstorm Signal was issued on June 7, when
301 mm fell within a day. The damage of the heavy
rainfall on this day alone was estimated at EUR 55
million (75 million US$).HK5
The present-day risk of flooding in Hong Kong is
predominantly determined by intense precipitation
from tropical cyclones and monsoons. Every year, two
to three tropical cyclones pass Hong Kong. During
these rainstorms, the rural low-lying areas and natural
flood plains in the northern part of the territory and
some locations in the older urban areas suffer serious
flooding.HK9 Residential blocks on higher grounds,
slopes and embankments are vulnerable too. Risks
increased when flatlands in the rural areas were
converted from fish ponds and agricultural land to
built-up areas, eliminating a buffer against floods.HK15
Although there is no significant change in the number
of typhoons passing by Hong Kong,HK16 climate change
may increase the rainfall amount during such events
and exacerbate the flooding problems.HK9 A rising sea
level makes drainage into the sea more difficult, and
can increase the risk of events such as Typhoon Wanda
Figure 8.9 The USS REGULUS, a US Navy ship, as a result of
Typhoon Rose (1971).
Climate
adaptation
4
the first drainage system was constructed mainly for

health reasons, soon the infrastructure increased, and
drainage (flood
fl
protection) systems and sewer systems
were explicitly separated. Under the ever-increasing
population, newly built gullies, culverts and streams
could not reduce the flood risk. In 1987, the Director of
Civil Engineering became responsible for coordinating
all aspects off flooding in Hong Kong. Before that time,
responsibilities where spread between numerous
parties. The new situation led to a drainage and
fl
flood
control strategy, which was adopted in 1990.
Simultaneously, the Drainage Service department
flood
was established, and since then investment in fl
protection has increased dramatically.HK15
8
In his Policy Address in 1999, the Chieff Executive of
Hong Kong, Tung Chee-hwa made clear the citys
endeavours to become a clean, comfortable and
pleasant place. Every citizen, business, government
department and bureau is required to start working
in partnership to achieve sustainable development.
Furthermore, alongside twenty other Asia-Pacific
fi
Economic Co-operation economies, Hong Kong has
set a target to achieve at least a reduction in energy
intensity off at least 25 percent by 2030 compared to
2005.HK17
Flood protection
Climate change adaptation is a new issue in Hong
Kong. Flood protection, on the other hand, has always
been an issue and was addressed soon after Hong
Kong Island came under British rule in 1841. Although
Figure 8.10 Inflatable
fl
dam at Kam Tin River.HK15
HONG KONG
109
Hong Kongs painful experiences with storm surges

promoted the adoption off stringent design standards
for coastal infrastructures. Nowadays, reclaimend
land is always raised +4 m above sea level to cater for
settlement safety and sea level rise. Physical models
and computational models are widely applied for the
design off bridges, coastal infrastructures and drainage.
The drainage system that copes with intense (cyclone)
precipitation has a recurrence interval off flooding
prevention off one in a fifty to twohundred years in
urban areas (see Figure 8.13). Continued efforts
ff
made
to separate the sewage system from storm water
drainage for health and safety reasons. Important
measures for so doing include infl
flatable dams and
dry weather flow inceptors that collect polluted water

in dry times, but allow storm water overflow.
fl HK15
Other technological measures for reducing the flood
fl
riskk include flood storage tanks (for example under
recreation grounds for example), raising the entrances
off buildings (see Figure 8.11), pumping stations and
drainage tunnel schemes.HK15
A world-class storm warning system has also been
installed to monitor and forecast stormy weather.
In combination with warning services, the building
design off infrastructures and public awareness have
greatly reduced the threat posed by tropical cyclones
with respect to loss off life (see Figure 8.12).HK9
Figure 8.11 Left: the fl

flood-vulnerable subway system in Hong Kong has lifted entrances.
Right: Nathan Road at its junction with Jordan Road flooded
fl
in 1997.HK15
HONG KONG
111
200
180
160
Number of death
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Year
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
Figure 8.12 The total number of deaths and missing people reported during tropical cyclone events in Hong Kong from 1960 to 2006.HK14
Types of Drainage
Recurrence interval flooding prevention (years)
Urban drainage trunk systems
200
Urban drainage branch systems
50
Main rural catchment drainage channels
50
Village drainage
10
Intensively used agricultural land
2-5
Table 8.13. Average recurrence interval of flooding prevention in Hong Kong drainage systems.HK9 These are based on land use type, economic
growth, socioeconomic needs, consequences of flooding, and cost-benefit analysis of flood mitigation measures.
Reducing resource dependency

In light of its resource dependency, Hong Kong has
also initiated a demand management strategy to
reduce its water and energy usage. The city set a
target of a 25 percent reduction in energy use by
2030 (compared to 2005 levels). Public education
campaigns focusing on water conservation have been
launched. School programmes are being enhanced
with the launch of the Water Conservation Starts from
Home campaign.HK15
Climate change impact assessment
The Environmental Protection Department started a
comprehensive study in 2008, to conduct an overarching and up-to-date study to assess the impact
of climate change on Hong Kong. The study reviews
and updates the inventories of greenhouse gas
emissions in Hong Kong; projects local emission trends
under different scenarios; characterizes the impacts
of climate change on Hong Kong; recommends
additional policies and measures to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and facilitate adaptation to
climate change; and assesses the cost-effectiveness of
the proposed measures.
Climate change governance

in Delta Metropolises
July 2010
In July 2010 a two day workshop was held at the

City University of Hong Kong to discuss climate
change governance in Delta Metropolises.
Scholars from different research institutes and
universities in the Netherlands, the UK and
Hong Kong gathered to exchange research on
issues related to networking and climate change
adaptation governance.
The studys aim is to provide a solid scientific basis for

the government to formulate long-term strategies and
measures for Hong Kong for climate change mitigation
and adaptation. It will also provide useful information
for preparing a submission to the Central Peoples
Government to meet the national obligations under
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change.HK17, HK18
Figure 8.14 Workshop in Delta Metropolises.HK1
HONG KONG
113
Tokyo
Introduction
Japan consists of many islands and more

than 70 percent of the country is covered
with mountains.T2 Around 65 percent of the
country has slopes steeper than 14 percent.
Japan is subjected to earthquakes which
do not only cause massive destruction
within cities, but can also damage the flood
protection structures or can even cause
dike breaches. The Great Kanto earthquake
of 1923, for example, caused a series of
broken and cracked embankments along
the Arakawa floodway in Tokyo Metropolis
at 28 locations.T3
The Japanese settled in alluvial plains,

formed by floods, where river water was
easily available for irrigation. Due to the
natural environment of Japan and the
human interventions, the countrys flood
plains are nowadays densely populated.
One side-effect of living in these alluvial
plains is the constant threat of flooding.
Nowadays, the flood plains cover less than
10 percent of Japan, but contain 51 percent
of the population and 75 percent of the
countrys assets.T1
TOKYO
115
A superr levee is an innovative technology, which brings

nott onlyy flood
d controll measures and
d a human-friendly
environment, butt also an effective
ff
impactt against
globall warming. Itt cools down the temperature off the
land
d along the river. The gentle slope off the superr levee
does nott preventt circulation off cooll airr on the river
waterr surface to the landside.
Yoshito Kikumori
Chief, Climate Change Research Section, River
Division, Nationall Institute forr Land
d and
d Infrastructure
Management, Ministryy off Land, Infrastructure, Transport
and
d Tourism, Japan
The challenges Japan faces and

d the concrete
achievements Japan makes mayy be an interesting
example forr otherr countries. Internationall exchange in
the field
d off urban storm waterr managementt is increasing
in importance. Itt seems likelyy thatt recentt changes in
storm waterr managementt came aboutt due to increased
internationall awareness off globall environmentall issues.
The Japanese wayy is nott onlyy applicable in Japan, but
could
d be a leading example forr otherr countries off the
world.
Professorr Shoichii Fujita
Departmentt off Civill and
d Environmentall Engineering,
Nagaoka Universityy off Technology
Tokyo Engineering Consultants (TEC)
Presentt
situation
2
Tokyo is the capital off Japan and was founded in the

Kanto region off Central Honshu, next to Tokyo Bay. In
this region only a small amount off suitable land was
available: a small area off flat land between the low hills
off the Musashino Plain and the marshy shore off the
bay.T5 Tokyo is located at the mouth off three domestic
large rivers: the Sumida River (nr. 1 in Figure 9.1), the
Ara River (nr. 2 in Figure 9.1) and the Edo River (nr.
3 in Figure 9.1). The Sumida River flows
fl
through the
centre off the Metropolis and is integrated in the urban
pattern off the city. The Edo River and the Ara River
are located in the outer districts off Tokyo. Figure 9.2
shows that large parts off Tokyo are located below the
fl
flood
level off its main rivers.T6 These areas are former
plains, that were formed when sediment was dumped
by rivers. By restricting the river course no new
sediment is carried into these regions, thus creating
Figure 9.1 Map off Tokyo T4 (nr. 1 Sumida river; nr. 2 Ara river;
nr. 3 Edo river).
TOKYO
117
a height difference.
ff
And also ground subsidence due
to groundwater pumping and sediment deposition in
river channel has a great impact. Japanese rivers are
short, steep and flow
fl rapidly down the mountains,
across the plains and into the Pacific
fi Ocean, the Sea of
Japan or the Seto Inland Sea.T7 They are fed by rain. The
ratio between normal flow
fl volume and that during a
storm is extremely great with the maximum discharge
is around 100 times as much as minimum discharge.
Heavy rainfall, in combination with steep slopes,
gives short flood
fl
pulses off less than two days in the
downstream river sections such as Tokyo Metropolis.
Many urban rivers in Tokyo help to drain the city from
fl
floods
caused by excessive rainfall. These urban rivers
are a ralued asset off this historic low-lying city T5.
The population figure
fi
off Japan increased from
84 million in the 150s to nearly 128 million in 2009.T8
The proportion off people working in the primary
industries such as, agriculture, forestry and fishing,
fi
fell over from more than 50 percent at the end of
the Second World War to 17 percent in 1970.T9 More
than 50 percent off the population and more than
70 percent off the nations assets are concentrated in
the flood
fl
plains.T1 About 80 percent off the villages
and cities have to deal with water damage caused by
floods. Today, next to the United States and China,
Japan produces the third highest Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) in the world. This makes Japan one of
h
l hi
i
h l
I 2007 h
Figure 9.2.
Figure 9.3 High rise at the river shores off the Sumida river.
Looking at Tokyo, in 1940 the metropolitan area of

Tokyo counted about 7.4 million inhabitants; this
figure has increased since then to approximately
12.8 million inhabitants in 2008 T8.This is about 10%
off Japans total population. The average population
density for the entire metropolis is about 5,750
people per km2. Tokyo has a large amount off assets
(Figure 9.3), economic value and a highly developed
networkk off infrastructure. Tokyo has an extensive
subway system. The introduction off underground
h
i
ll h l d
i
h
Climate and
flood risks
3
rainfall and winds associated with tropical cyclones are

likely to increase in East Asia. Sea level is expected to
rise at the end off this century (20902099) by 0.35 m
(0.23 to 0.47 m) Due to ocean density and circulation
changes, the distribution off sea level rise will not
be uniform. Large deviations among models make
estimates off distribution across the Caribbean Sea and
the Indian and Pacific
fi Oceans uncertain.T10
Eff
ffect off flooding in highly urbanized Tokyo
In response to the growing demand for housing
in Tokyo Metropolis citys the residential areas
are expanding towards the less-elevated western
region and the flood prone eastern area. The result
is noticeable in the Naka river basin and the Ayase
river basin. Here, urbanized zones have expended
enormously from 11 percent in 1965 to 43 percent in
Japan is situated in the East Asian Monsoon region

and has a warm and humid climate.T2 Mean annual
precipitation in Japan is approximately 1.800 mm,
high in some areas experiencing precipitation off up
to 3.000 mm.T6 Heavy precipitation takes place during
the rainy season in June and July, during the typhoon
season with typhoons originating from the South
Pacific
fi in September and October, and during winter
snowfall in northern Japan.T2 About three typhoons hit
the country directly each year. Heavy rain often leads
to flooding
fl
off streets and causes a serious thread for
fl
flooding
due to overflow
fl off river water.
Winter precipitation is likely to increase in East Asia
and summer precipitation is likely to increase as well.
Additionally, an increase in the frequency off intense
precipitation events in East Asia is very likely. Extreme
TOKYO
119
Figure 9.4 Flood gate.
covering and storm sewers, accelerated storm

water runoff.
ff The flood frequency on the streets has
increased in the newly developed urbanized areas. This
has become a major urban problem since the 1960s.T13
The total off urban flood disasters has increased
signifi
ficantly. On the riverbanks off the lower Ara River
in Tokyo a very dense concentration off population and
property can be observed. The average population
density for the entire Arakawa basin counts 3,400
people per square kilometer. Some areas even reach a
density off 9,200 people per square kilometre where a
tremendous amount off private assets as well as public
functions are concentrated.T3 Thus, embankment
failure is bound to cause widespread flooding
fl
and
tremendous damage in the Metropolis.
Figure 9.5 Shibuya district in Tokyo.
1995.T11 The original inhabitants off flatland areas knew,

for many generations, which areas the rivers would
fl
flood
the hinterland during extreme discharges and
where it was relatively save to live. Damage caused by
inundation to the newly build houses in these areas
is not compensated by the Japanese government.
Still, flood
fl
prone land is cheap so many new houses
are built in these areas and only a few houses are
constructed in a climate prooff manner.
Figure 9.3 and 9.5 shows that rapid urbanization in
Tokyo Metropolis has reduced the function off forests
and paddy fields retention for storm water.T12 Space
was scarce, so ponds were used to construct buildings
and infrastructure. Many areas were no longer used
for storage off storm water. Furthermore, the increase
in impervious earth cover, such as asphalt, concrete
TOKYO
121
Figure 9.6 Super levee along the Ara river in Tokyo.
Climate
adaptation
4
9
Next to conventional measures like flood walls, several
adaptive measures exist in Tokyo against river floods
fl
and ponds against storm water floods are used to
cope with climate change. Examples off such measures
are the super levee and multipurpose storage basin
against river floods, impermeable pavements against
storm water floods and a mobile evacuation system
against floods.
The super levee a multifunctional flood
fl
defence
In 1987, the Japanese government adopted a policy
for protection from extreme floods exceeding the
design levels off regular flood protection measures
applicable to highly urbanized areas.T14 Due to the
expected changes in peakk discharge and frequency
due to climate change, such extreme floods
fl
are likely
to occur on a more frequent basis in the future.
TOKYO
The concept off a super levee is designed especially

for extreme events in dense urban areas, such as
Tokyo Metropolis. A super levee is a wide river
embankment with a broad width which can withstand
even overfl
flow, so that destruction can be prevented
(for principles see Figure 9.7). Main difference
ff
to a
conventional dike is the width; a super levee has a
mild slope off 1:30.T3 In other words, a super levee
with a height off 10 meters will have a width off about
300 meters. A super levee allows for overtopping as
it is resistant to overfl
flow, seepage and earthquakes,
which is one off the main reasons for its construction.T3
Super levee projects are always implemented in
conjunction with urban redevelopment, land rezoning
projects or other urban planning. Super levees enable
multifunctional structures which incorporate both
Emergency
Sleep slope prevents
View Blocked by
Dense Residential/
earthquake damage
Figure 9.7 Principles off a super levee.
123
the needs of flood control and the interests of the

inhabitants.T14 It provides usable land and space for
dwellings.T3 This will lead to an added urban value of
the region through the restored accessibility of the river.
The steep slope of a conventional dike prevents easy
river access.T3 The outer slope of a super levee is gentler
than the outer slope of conventional dike. Moreover, the
gentle inner slope, in combination open recreational
spaces at crest level provides an open view towards the
river.T11 Super levees can be found along the Ara River
and Sumida River in Tokyo. The super levee along the
Ara River (Figure 9.6) combines a very broad dike with a
park and a small amount of high rise whereas the super
levee along the Sumida River combines a broad dike
flood wall with a promenade and a large amount of
high rise.
Multipurpose water storage facility
The Tsurumi multipurpose detention basin is a good
example of a multipurpose river water storage facility.
The Tsurumi River is an urban river with a length of
42.5 km and a catchment area of 235 km2, T12 and is
located in the central part of Tokyo Metropolis, close
to Yokohama and in short distance of Tokyo centre.
Until the 1960s most of the basin was covered with
forest and agriculture fields, but has been transformed
into a large dwelling district. The percentage of
urbanization has increased from 20 percent to 80
percent in only 40 years T12. Storm water run off
accelerated due to the increase of paved areas and
the peak discharge has nearly doubled since the early
1960s. Therefore, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government
and the city of Yokohama produced a master plan for
an overflow location with multifunctional facilities for
dealing with the peak discharge of the Tsurumi River.
The detention basin is designed to ensure a safety from
a 150-year flood. The basin is excavated deeper than

the surrounding grounds and has a storage capacity
of 3.9 million m3. In addition to flood control, the basin
serves multiple purposes. It contains a sports venue, a
recreation area and a park for local residents.T15 Most
prominent is the International Stadium Yokohama.
This structure has been built on a high foundation to
prevent damage during inundation of the detention
basis. The primary roads inside the basin are constructed
along embankments or are elevated.T15 The Tsurumi
multipurpose detention basis demonstrates that
combining water storage and urban activities is a
feasible solution in urban areas to cope with increasing
river levels and increasing frequencies of peak
discharges. It is therefore a promising solution to cope
with climate change in flood endangered urbanized
regions such as Tokyo metropolis.
Permeable pavements as innovative measure
against storm water
Urbanization has resulted in an expansion of
impermeable areas such as roofs and pavements.T16
In Tokyo for instance, the runoff coefficient increased
from approximately 0.3 in the beginning of the
Twentieth Century towards 0.8 in 1994.T16, T17 A solution
which enables further urbanization and is suitable to
cope with climate change is the use of a permeable
pavement. Nowadays, this solution is widely used in
Japan. The permeable pavement is one of the structures
within the Experimental Sewer System (ESS). ESS is a
new sewer system which is capable of controlling storm
water runoff by adding infiltration and storage facilities
to the conventional combined sewer system.T18
This system reduces runoff thus causing less threat of
river floods. Additionally, it reduces the frequency and
quantity of overflow from the combined sewer system.
The pavements can be sufficiently

ffi
cleaned with high
pressured water. This method restores the pavement
with its original infi
filtration capacity. A shortcoming is
however that muddy water flows into the sewer system.
T20
Until 1992, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has
already built about 494,000 m2 off permeable pavements
which is about 2.3 percent off the total street area.T18
Figure 9.8 Permeable pavement in a residential area in Tokyo.T19
Also, the ground water level is restored and ground

water pollution is reduced by the separation off storm
water and waste water. It prevents contamination of
receiving waters.T18
Figure 9.7 shows an example off permeable asphalt in a
residential area. Permeable asphalt has many voids in
which storm water is infi
filtrated directly. Unfortunately,
it has less strength than ordinary asphalt so the
application is limited to sidewalks, parking lots and small
roads with a width off no more than 5 meter.T18, T20 Porous
concrete blocks are mostly used for the construction
off permeable road surfaces. Due to the high void ratio,
the infiltration
fi
rate is similar to the rate off permeable
asphalt pavement.T18 Special attention is needed on
maintenance off the permeable asphalt pavements.
They are easily clogged by soil particles and debris.
TOKYO
Experience in damage mitigation measures

Next to structural measures which reduce the
probability off a flood
fl
event, in Tokyo, damage mitigation
measures are used to reduce the consequences off a
flood event. One off the damage mitigation measures to
cope with floods is the establishment off a warning and
evacuation system. Display panels throughout the city
and in front off railway, bus and metro stations provide
information to local residents about emergencies like
floods and earthquakes. At home, people are informed
through television with special broadcasts and through
websites to inform local residents about the current
state off the rivers. Furthermore, live images off the river
and charts off the amount off precipitation and water
level are disseminated via the Internet.T3 Additionally,
the Internet can be used by local residents to state their
position during a flood event. People throughout Japan
can access the website to checkk iff their relatives or
friends are unharmed.T3 Another way to inform people
about flood conditions is through their cell phones. This
system allows users to automatically receive disaster
prevention information iff they register for this service in
advance.T3 In case off a flood
fl
hazard, the standby screen
transforms into the emergency screen and provides
the user with information about water levels and
meteorological information during flood
fl
conditions.
This service has been tested in 2004, and is currently
operational.
125
10
Ho Chi Minh City

by Philip Bubeck and Ho Long Phi
Introduction
to the effects of climate change. The

authorities of HCMC have recognized the
importance to undertake accompanying
adaptation measures and to consider
climate change in the citys planning
process.
10
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), located in the

delta area of the Saigon and Dong Nai rivers
is Vietnams largest city and an important
economic, trade, cultural and research
centre of the country. With its seaport lying
at an important intersection of international
maritime routes, HCMC is situated at
the heart of South-East Asia and has
become a traffic hub for the region and an
international gateway.
As Ho Chi Minh City continues to grow, more
and more urban areas and infrastructures
are developed in low-lying areas vulnerable
Figure 10.1 Map off HCMC.
O CHI MINH CITY
127
As a fast-growing delta city, Ho Chi Minh City

recognizes the importance to integrate climate change
mitigation and adaptation into the citys policies. With
the Ho Chi Minh City Climate Change Steering Board,
we have therefore established an organization that
will coordinate all activities related to climate change
of the city. Being an active member of the C40, Ho Chi
Minh City has also intensified its cooperation with our
international partners to jointly address the challenges
of future climate change.
Mister Le Hoang Quan,
Chairman, Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee
Climate change and especially sea level rise is a major

challenge for the delta and the coastal areas around the
globe. HCMC can be regarded as a typical example in this
regard. As Climate Change Steering Board, we must focus
on policies to respond to climate change appropriately
and effectively to work towards sustainable development.
Simultaneously, this challenge should be regarded as an
opportunity for development, especially for maritime and
seaport economic activities.
Mr. Dao Anh Kiet,
Vice Chairman of HCMC Climate Change Steering Board
Present
situation
2
10
continuously grown with double-digit growth

rates and its economic importance for the country
in general and the southern region in particular is
exemplified
fi by the fact that HCMC contributes nearly
30 percent to the national GDP and received 37
percent off total foreign direct investments in 2009.H1
In addition to a substantial increase in population
density, HCMCs rapid growth has resulted in a
considerable expansion off urban areas into the
adjacent rural areas. Within the last twenty years only,
the extent off urban surfaces has doubled H2 and many
off the new urban areas have been developed on lowlying marsh land (Figure 10.2). Today, approximately
60 percent off the urban area is located less than
1.5 m above sea level, making it highly vulnerable to
projected sea-level rise.
HCMC has a diversified

fi topography, ranging from
mainly agricultural and rural areas in the north to
a widespread system off rivers, canals and dense
mangrove forest to the south. The urban areas are
located approximately 50 km inland from the Pacific
fi
Ocean (also called East Sea by Vietnam) at the banks of
the Saigon River (Figure 10.1). Early settlements date
backk to the 17th century and were developed close to
the Saigon River on slightly higher grounds and thus
very favorable areas.
Similar to other evolving mega-cities in South-East
Asia, Ho Chi Minh City has experienced rapid changes
in recent decades, especially after the introduction of
economic reforms in the mid 1980s. Within the last
20 years, the citys population has more than doubled
from 3.9 million in 1989 to approximately 8 million
inhabitants in 2010.H1 The regional economy has
Figure 10.2 Spatial Development Master Plan Map off HCMC.
HO CHI MINH CITY
129
In the coming decades, HCMC is projected to grow

continuously. Even though natural population growth
could be slowed down due to reduced birth rates,
HCMC keeps attracting migrants from all over Vietnam
due to its economic status and could reach up to 10 to
12 million inhabitants in 2025.H3 A particular dynamic
could unfold from potential impacts off sea-level rise
that could lead to a large infl
flux off migrants from the
low-lying Mekong Delta to the city in search for labor
and better living conditions. According to the Spatial
Development Master Plan up to 2025 off HCMC, many
off the new urban areas will be further developed
into the low-lying marshlands exemplifying the need
to take accompanying climate change adaptation
measures (Figure 10.3).
Figure 10.3 IS distribution from satellite images. H2
Climate and
flood risks
3
10
HCMC is characterized by a tropical monsoonal climate

with two distinct seasons: a rainy season lasting from
May to November and a dry season from December
to April. The mean annual temperature is 27.4 degrees
with an average humidity off about 77 percent.
Average annual rainfall is about 2100 mm off which
about 90 percent falls during the rainy season.H4
During recent decades, changes in the regional
climate have already been observed. Average annual
temperature has increased by 0.6 degrees during the
last seven decades from 26.8 degrees for the period
1931-1940 to 27.4 degrees for the period 2000-2007.
While the annual volume off rainfall has remained
Figure 10.4 Yearly maximum rainfall events at Tan Son Hoa Station
(located close to Tan Son Nhat Airport off HCMC, which lies about 7 km
to the north from the city centre).

8MAXMM

YX

9EAR

HO CHI MINH CITY

131
Period
1952-1961
1962-1971
1972-1981
1982-1991
1992-2002
2003-2009
Counts
Table 10.5 Count off rainfall events larger than 100 mm.
fairly stable in southern Vietnam, the number off heavy

rainfall events has increased remarkably (Figure 10.4
and Table 10.5). The increase off heavy rainfall events
coincides with the rapid urbanization process in the
last 20 years and has been attributed to the so-called
urban heat island effect.
ff H5
The sea level has risen by 20 cm in the last 50 years
and with a rate off about 3 mm per year during the
period 1993 and 2008.H6, H7 Water levels at river stations
in and around HCMC have shown a notable upward
trend with an average increase off 1.5 cm per year since
1990. So far, the observed raise off river water levels
in and around HCMC and the resulting increase in
flood riskk has been mainly attributed to the profound
changes that occurred in the catchment during
the development and urbanization process, which
seriously impacted the hydrological characteristics
off the basin.H5 Statistical data show that 14.420 ha of
agricultural areas, wetlands and water bodies have
been sealed during 1997-2006.H3 At the same time,
land subsidence has been observed in several locations
in the city that has been attributed mainly to ground
water extraction and overburden pressure off high-rise
buildings.
The observed climatic trends are projected to continue
under climate change. Annual mean temperature
could rise by 1 degree in 2050 and up to 2.9 degrees
by the end off this century.H6 While annual rainfall is
*7-year period
projected to remain fairly stable with an increase of

about 1 percent to 1.9 percent by the year 2100, there
are considerable seasonal changes foreseen. Rainfall
is projected to decrease by 9.4 percent-18.2 percent
in the dry-season months from March to May but
expected to increase by 8.5 percent to 16.5 percent in
the rainy-season months from September to November
fl
and droughts.
leading to a higher riskk off both floods
Sea level is projected to rise between 28 cm to 33 cm in
2050 and between 65 cm to 100 cm in 2100,H6 posing a
major challenge to low-lying HCMC.
Figure 10.6 Hydraulic Modeling Scheme off HCMC.H5
5PSTREAMFLOOD
5PSTREAMFLOOD
5RBAN(#-#
5PSTREAMFLOOD
4IDELEFFECTAND
SEALEVELRISE
#OUNTOFFLOOD%VENTS

&LOODEVENTS
#OUNTOFRAINFALL
EVENTWITH
VOLUMEMM

#ENTRALDISTRICTS
2ECENTLY5RBANIZED$ISTRICTS
9EAR
2MM
Figure 10.7 Count off flood events in HCMC.
Flood risk
Urban flooding
fl
has become a wide-spread
phenomenon and a major concern in Ho Chi Minh
City in recent years that has been accompanying the
citys rapid growth. Especially since the beginning
off the 1990s the amount off flooded locations, flood
frequencies and flood
fl
duration has steadily increased
and has caused substantial economic and social
losses,H5 such as damage to infrastructure and assets,
water pollution as well as traffic
ffi jams.
HCMC faces flood riskk from several sources or
combinations off these. An overview off the hydrological
scheme off HCMC is provided in Figure 10.6. Dots
represent nodal points off the hydraulic model and the
red circle the projected urban extension according to
the General Development Plan off HCMC until 2025.H3
HO CHI MINH CITY
First, low-lying areas to the south off the city are

impacted by tidal peaks, which are projected to
in-crease under climate changes. According to the
Urban Drainage Authority off HCMC, about 20 sites are
currently inundated on a monthly basis as a result of
high tides. Second, frequent flooding
fl
results from a
combination off heavy rainfall events and an insufficient
ffi
drainage system. The Urban Drainage Authority of
HCMC reported more than 100 seriously flooded
locations after a heavy rainfall event off 127 mm on
May 16th, 2004. Many off these locations are subject
to frequent flooding even with much lower rainfall
intensity (Figure 10.7). Since early 2000 the urban
drainage system off HCMCs central districts has been
upgraded as part off a flood control project. This has
resulted in a decrease off flood events in the central
areas (Figure 10.7).
133
factors among which the rising river water levels, rapid

and uncontrolled urbanization, land subsidence and the
increase in heavy rainfall events have been identified
fi as
the most direct ones.H5 Given its distinct topographical
location in the low-lying delta area as well as the
projected changes in climate and urban expansion,
fl
flood
riskk is expected to further increase, putting a
major pressure on the citys development. Assuming a
sea-level rise off approximately 25 cm, up to 71 percent
off the area off HCMC could be affected
ff
by an extreme
fl
flood
event in 2050 iff no additional measures are taken.
Inundation depths and the duration off flood events
would increase considerably, resulting in a growing risk
for life, infrastructure and assets in the city.H8 As the vast
majority off the growing population will settle in lowlying and thus unfavorable areas as shown in Figure
10.3, millions off people could be at riskk off flooding.
Figure 10.8 Flooding in Ho Chi Minh City.
At the same time, flooding

fl
sharply increased in newly
developed districts showing the negative impacts of
urbanization on the flooding situation in HCMC.
Third, HCMC is prone to river flooding, which also affects
ff
the upstream areas that are situated on slightly higher
grounds. The raising river water levels have worsened
this problem. In addition, HCMC also faces flood
fl
riskk from
upstream reservoirs. Heavy rains, accompanying tropical
cyclones or typhoons, often not only affect
ff HCMC but
the whole Dong Nai river basin. In such a situation, extra
amounts off water are often released from upstream
reservoirs at times when tides reach their annual peaks
in October and November, causing even more severe
problems for the urban drainage system.H5
The observed increase in flood riskk in HCMC is thus a
consequence off both climate and non climate related
Figure 10.9 Flooding in Ho Chi Minh City.
Climate
adaptation
4
10
sustainable solutions. Existing policies and strategic

documents, such as the Socioeconomic Development
Plan for 2025 are currently revised and updated
to integrate climate change adaptation into the
planning process. In order to coordinate and integrate
all activities related to climate change, HCMC has
established the so-called Ho Chi Minh City Climate
Change Steering Board.
At the same time, HCMC is enhancing domestic
and international training for its staff
ff members on
climate change and adaptation to improve the citys
management capacity. In May 2010, the ARUP-C40
Climate Change workshop was held in HCMC, covering
aspects off water resource management under climate
change, including urban flooding,
fl
groundwater
depletion and water salinity (Figure 10.10).
HCMC faces major challenges in terms off infrastructure

development, public transport, flood
fl
prevention
and the provision off other public services due to
its ongoing rapid growth. These challenges will be
amplified
fi given the projected changes in climate.
Vietnam in general, and HCMC in particular have been
identified
fi as one off the most severely affected
ff
places
by future climate change and especially sea level
rise.H9, H10 In order to address these challenges Vietnam
has adopted a National Target Programme to Respond
to Climate Change (NTP) in December 2008.H7 As
part off this NTP, HCMC along with other provinces in
Vietnam is currently developing an Action Plan on
Climate Change that shall define
fi adaptive responses
to safeguard the citys development. In this context,
further research is currently undertaken examining
the effects
ff
off climate change on HCMC to arrive at
Figure 10.10 ARUP-C40 Climate Change Workshop in HCMC.
HO CHI MINH CITY
135
Along with institutional arrangements, HCMC is

undertaking and planning concrete measures to adapt
to climate change. In order to reduce the vulnerability
off future urban areas, which will be mainly developed
on low-lying marshlands, a policy has been decreed
in 2008 that requires all new developments to be
elevated 2 m to 2.5 m above mean sea level. To protect
the city from rising sea water levels, a Master Plan of
Tide Control for HCMC has been approved by the Prime
Minister in 2008 that proposes to build a polder system
around HCMC (Figure 10.11). Almost 200 km off dikes
and hundreds off tidal gates would be constructed. As
the project is not yet implemented, the effects
ff
off such
a polder system are currently studied in detail and
concerns regarding ecological aspects, city planning
and the timing have been raised.
Figure 10.11 Master Plan off Tide Control for HCMC.
Ho Chi Minh City Moving Towards the Sea with Climate Change Adaptation
HCMCs sea-harbour, being located in the central
districts on the banks of the Saigon River is
economically crucial for Southern Vietnam in
general and HCMC in particular. To ensure further
harbour and economic developments one has to
create room for urban planning in central districts,
HCMC currently plans to move its harbour facilities
southwards towards the sea. As such, a shift into
low-lying areas also means that vital infrastructure
of the city will be moved to areas highly vulnerable
to climate change and especially sea-level rise,
HCMC recognizes the importance to climate-proof
these activities.
Similar developments are currently implemented
by the city of Rotterdam that already shifts
its harbour facilities toward the sea. To share
respective knowledge and experiences regarding
both technical aspects but also institutional

processes, the two cities are currently engaging in
a strategic partnership as part of the Connecting
Delta Cities Initiative. The partnership shall also
address other aspects of climate-proofing urban
(re-) development.
On June 14th and 15th 2010, representatives from
both cities met in HCMC together with a wide
range of stakeholders from the private sector,
knowledge institutes and national and local public
authorities to explore needs and opportunities for
further cooperation. The workshop resulted in an
agreement on the key issues and next steps to be
taken by HCMC and Rotterdam. This cooperation
is part of a wider Strategic Partnership Agreement
(SPA) between Vietnam and the Netherlands.
Figure 10.12 Consultations: HCMC Moving towards the Sea with Climate Change Adaptation, June 2010.
HO CHI MINH CITY
137
Conclusions on best
CDC practices
11
by Piet Dircke, Arnoud Molenaar and Jeroen Aerts
Introduction
11
Delta cities are increasingly keen to share

their experiences and knowledge with
the CDC network. In addition to CDC,
other networks and initiatives on climate
adaptation in cities and deltas have
emerged, demonstrating a growing interest
in the issue of climate adaptation. There is a
particular interest in climate adaptation best
practices and in the methods for developing,
implement and finance those examples.
This chapter provides an overview of some
of the best practices described by the eight
CDC cities in the previous chapters and
provides an outlook on how the CDC
network will proceed.
Climate change adaptation willl be one off the major

challenges forr delta cities this century. Coastall cities need
a holisticc approach forr theirr adaptation strategies and
leadership to gett this implemented
d and
d to keep itt on the
agenda. Internationall knowledge exchange is crucial. We
willl have to actt now. Thinkk global, actt local, CDC
C delta
cities willl bring itt into practice.
Arnoud
d Molenaar,
Programme Managerr Rotterdam Climate Proof,
Climate Office,
ffi Cityy off Rotterdam
CDC NETWORK IN PRACTICE
139
standards. The adaptation planning process also

requires a multidisciplinary systems approach with the
full participation off stakeholders. Iff stakeholders and
the scientists and engineers involved are aware off the
risks off climate change, it will be much more feasible
to jointly develop a workable adaptation plan for a city.
Best
practices
2
11
Urban planning and waterfronts
The role off urban planners in the implementation of
adaptation policies and management is vital for the
successful construction, operation and maintenance
off essential infrastructure and services in coastal
cities impacted by the challenges off climate change.
Careful urban planning, creative engineering solutions
and effective
ff
emergency management systems can
substantially reduce the consequences off climate
change. However, this requires the embedding of
climate change and adaptation considerations and
long-term policymaking into the daily operations of
urban planners and policy makers. It also requires
a flexible
fl
approach towards new technologies and
experiments and the careful review off legislation and
new urban building codes to ensure that plans are
eff
ffectively implemented to meet new climate-proofi
fing
Coastal cities continue to grow in exposed locations

near and at the coast. Attractive waterfront development appeals to the desires off people who can afford
ff
to live in vibrant large cities with easy coastal access,
high environmental quality and convenient transportation. For many others, who are less fortunate, there is
simply no option but to live in a vulnerable locations.
To meet these demands off living near the waterfront,
both off the wealthy and the poor, new forms of
adaptive planning and architecture are needed to
maintain public safety, to limit the impact off floods
and facilitate large-scale evacuation iff neccessary.
CDC best practices include the PlaNYC in New York,
with a broad scope on city-wide climate adaptation
options, ranging from zoning regulations, flood
insurance and raising awareness through active
citizen participation. Well known recent examples of
waterfront developments in New York are Battery Park
and Brooklyn Bridge Park. London has produced a
Climate Change Adaptation Strategy with a far reaching
planning horizon and has used a new concept that
identifies tipping points beyond, which adaptation
options are less effective. New Orleans illustrates how to
use a city network to increase its knowledge on climate
adaptation through the Dutch Dialogues, a unique
cooperation between American and Dutch architects
and planners to develop a better urban future through
remarkable best practices.
Finally, seasonal water storage areas are increasingly

seen to create so-called climate buffer
ff areas that
will have the appearence off urban wetlands. These
multipurpose areas may have recreational functions
and contribute to the ecological quality off the city
suburbs. In conjunction with the WWF, Rotterdam is
studying the possibilities off no regrets measures as
part off the Rotterdam Adaptation Strategy. In addition,
Jakarta with its enormous challenges as a mega city is
a showcase for the future for showing how to develop
more open space and green buffer
ff zones. Other
examples are the storage reservoirs and permeable
pavements off Tokyo and the green roofs and the
fl
floating
pavilions in Rotterdam. A good example of
CDC spatial planning practice is the HCMC Master Plan
Polder System.
Coastal protection and restoration

Wetlands and beaches have a natural buffer
ff function
to protect land and people from flood risk. However,
due to land use change and coastal erosion, wetlands
are disappearing at a high rate. The United States for
example, continues to lose approximatelyy 100,000
acres off wetlands each year. However, increasingly
the natural buffer
ff function off wetlands and beaches is
acknowledged and projects and protective regulations
are developed to restore wetlands. Furthermore, sand
nourishment projects represent another measure to
mitigate coastal erosion and to provide protection
against storm surges. The required sand is mined from
offshore
ff
bars, usuallyy located within several kilometers
off the beach. Iff possible, the texture and grain size off the
mined sand is closelyy matched with the original beach
sand. Sand nourishment is relativelyy cheap compared
to other measures but has onlyy a temporaryy eff
ffect and
therefore has to be repeated on a regular (annual) basis.
Some of the best CDC practices on wetland restoration
include the Mangrove restoration projects in Ho Chi
Minh City and in Jakarta. Also the Staten Island Bluebell
programme in New York is a successful and recognizable
ecological restoration effort.
Dunes, dikes and flood
fl
walls
For low lying parts off delta cites, in particular those
below sea level, an adequate protection against
fl
flooding
by dunes, dikes, levees or flood walls is
indispensable, though protection strategies may
differ
ff from city to city. For instance Rotterdam mainly
relies on flood measures such as levees and storm
surge barriers. In the United States, the emphasis has
always been more on disaster response and mitigation
measures, while the London approach is a mix of
141
prevention, response and mitigation. Since Hurricane

Katrina, the Netherlands and the US intensively
exchanged knowledge on this topic. The Lessons
Learned from Katrina resulted in a new multiple lines
off defense strategy in both countries that is more or
less comparable to the strategy in London.
Dunes are a natural system for flood
fl
defense and
therefore preferable and also often cheaper then
expensive technical flood
fl
protection works. Their
protection level can be enhanced through vegetation,
sand nourishment off the beach in front or through
widening. In the Netherlands the first
fi projects with a
protective dike constructed inside a dune are being
built.
Dikes and flood walls with the exception off the
Super Levees in Tokyo can fail, and such a failure can
cause considerable damage. Therefore dikes and flood
walls need careful planning, design, construction and
operation and management. The level off protection
is also crucial to lowering the riskk off overtopping and
subsequent failure. The flood protection system in
Rotterdam has a safety norm off 1/10,000, meaning
that the system has been designed to withstand a
flood with an estimated probability off occuring once
in every 10,000 years. Other cities have significant
fi
lower protection levels. New Orleans, for instance,
has a protection level off one in a hundred years,
although the new Hurricane Protection System now
under construction is so solid that although it will be
overtopped once in one hundred years, it is expected
to have a resiliency against failure off the dikes and
flood walls off one in a fivehundred
fi
years.
economic value off assets within a dike ring; the

more people and economic value to be protected by
levee infrastructure, the higher the safety standard.
As climate change is expected to increase the
frequency and severity off flooding events, these
flood probabilities will accordingly increase rapidly
with sea level rise. Therefore, reinforcing dikes is an
ongoing concern in the Netherlands and other deltas
that are protected by dikes and flood
fl
walls.
Some of the best and most innovative CDC practices
include the super levee in Tokyo and the Hurricane
and Flood Risk Reduction System that is now under
construction In New Orleans, in an impressive programme with unprecedented speed and determination. Also
the multifunctional and smart urban flood protection
that Rotterdam is working on to protect its inner city is
an example of a best CDC practice.
Safety norms differ

ff from country to country and
reflect
fl
both the number off inhabitants and the
Figure 11.1 The Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier.
Storm surge barriers

Storm surge barriers can play an important role in
the protective system of delta cities. Barriers provide
sufficient protection, while maintaining accessibility,
both for economic activities like navigation and for
ecological processes. On the other hand, they are
expensive and complicated, and bear one significant
risk that has to be kept as low as possible: the risk of a
closure failure. When designing a barrier, the required
future protection level, including sea level rise should
be taken into account. Large constructions, such as
the Dutch Eastern Scheldt and Maeslant barriers, were
designed to function for at least 100 years, taking
the observed sea level rise of 30 cm per century into
account.
A faster rise of the sea level would shorten the
functional period in which the barriers remain within
set norms. Renewal costs would, as a consequence,
occur sooner than expected.
Some of the best CDC practices on storm surge barriers
as part of the protective system can be found in New
Orleans, London and Rotterdam. In New Orleans
new barriers are under construction right now, while
London and Rotterdam rely for the protection of their
citizens and ports already for some decades on their
barriers. With ongoing sea level rise also New York
City might consider the construction of barriers. But
being built above sea level, New York can take its time
and consider various alternatives and learn from the
experiences of the other CDC cities.
Zoning regulations and flood insurance
Damage caused by floods can be limited by land
use planning, such as preventing development in
hazard-prone areas, and by building structures that

are better able to withstand natural hazard impacts.
For example, damage may be limited by constructing
elevated houses and building with water resistant
materials in flood plains or by strengthening roofs
in order to prevent hurricane damage. Studies
showed that potential hurricane or flood damage
can significantly be reduced if existing building code
standards would be implemented or if households
undertake (low-cost) adaptation measures, such as
installing temporary water barriers and adapting
existing buildings through retrofitting to flooding.
The projected rise in damage challenges the insurance
industry and offers them new business opportunities
in providing affordable insurance against natural
disasters. Insurers need to incorporate changes in
natural disaster risk caused by climate change in the
assessment and management of their risk exposure.
Governments can promote affordability of insurance
in the face of climate change by investing in risk
reduction. In addition, public-private partnerships
to insure natural hazard risk may be established,
for example, with a role for the government as an
insurer of last resort. The experience of the insurance
sector with assessing, managing, and spreading risks
may be useful in fostering adaptation of societies
to climate change. Insurance could provide tools to
assess natural hazard risk, which can be useful to
guide adaptation policies, such as spatial planning.
Well-designed financial compensation arrangements
can speed up the recovery process after natural
disasters have struck and provide financial security
to the insured. Moreover, insurance with risk-based
premiums can provide economic incentives to
limit damage by acting as a price signal of risks. For
example, insurance can provide higher coverage or
143
reductions in insurance premiums to homeowners

who invest in measures that limit potential damage
due to natural disasters. Insurance could also play an
important role in requiring or promoting the adoption
of stricter building codes and other adaptation
measures.
Some best CDC practices on zoning regulations and
insurances are the design standards in Hong Kong, the
High level of urban water management in high rise
city with exceptional urban challenges and extreme
environment in Tokyo, the elevation of all developments
on low lying areas in HCMC and the US national flood
insurance policy to stimulate elevating buildings above
the 100 year flood levels or higher, for example in New
Orleans and New York.
Financial aspects of climate adaptation
Most coastal cities are still in the planning phase
of climate adaptation. An estimate of the total cost
for flood management adaptation is mostly not
available yet and adaptation costs are often seen
as a large share of the budget. Apart from making
more reliable cost benefit studies, cities can explore
to mainstream adaptation policies into current and
planned investments. In this way, adaptation measures
can be efficiently implemented. For example in most
CDC cities billions of dollars are spent on updating and
expanding the cities infrastructure. Climate adaptation
related measures might be integrated into these
efforts.
Choices made today will influence the vulnerability
to climate risks of assets and people far into the
future. Therefore, it is important to study impacts
and adaptation options under long-term trends in
climate and socioeconomic change. Many largescale infrastructure works take 10 to 20 years or
more to design, plan and implement. Postponing
adaptation planning and policy development to
future generations will only exacerbate the problems
of vulnerable city communities and expose them
to unacceptable threats to life and property. But
there is also money to be made, as creative and
pro-active adaptation will stimulate new business
and environmental opportunities and innovations in
economic activities. Thus, there are many challenges
and opportunities for both business interests and
researchers to feed policy makers with new ideas
and solutions.
Best CDC practices of dealing with the financial
aspects of climate adaptation are to be found in
London, with the Disaster Risk Reduction Framework
and in Rotterdam, were the Rotterdam Climate Proof
Programme has integrated the aspects of estimating
and financing costs of climate adaptation into their
planning. Important is to involve private business and
investors in the early stages of the climate adaptation
process to ensure commitment and to continuously
seek for mutual interests.
Capacity building, public awareness and
communication
An important element of a Climate Adaptation
Strategy is public awareness, as pointed out at the
CDC workshop in June 2009 in New York. Public
awareness is therefore one of the non-technical
measures that should become part of the climate
adaptation strategies. Awareness amongst
politicians and civil servants is even more crucial, as
they are respectively the decision makers, architects
think about there own contribution to make their

city climate proof.
and implementers off the climate adaptation plans.

An important awareness component is to create
multidisciplinary teams and enough capacity as
critical mass to anchor the climate adaptation
strategy in key parts off the local government
organization. Also warning and evacuation systems
are important tools.
A good example of a CDC best practice on awareness

raising can be found in Ho Chi Minh City that is
now working on capacity building and is investing
in training their staff from different departments
of the Peoples Committee. In New Orleans the
Dutch Dialogues proofed to be a unique tool for
communication and interaction between American
and Dutch architects, planners and engineers, jointly
striving for a better citys future. CDC best practices on
warning systems can be found in Hong Kong and Tokyo;
both cities developed a world class storm warning and
evacuation system.
The way London and its Mayor is using modern
communication tools such as YouTube is a useful
example for other CDC-cities. In New York Mayor
Bloomberg used modern media like internet to
challenge the New Yorkers to generate ideas for
achieving the key goals for the citys sustainable
future, and New Yorkers from all boroughs responded
positively, creating public support for the citys
sweeping climate plan. Rotterdam and Jakarta are
both actively communicating climate change, raising
awareness and communicating the importance of
integrated spatial and land-use planning.
Communication plans, brochures and the use

off media like TV and radio are useful to raise
awareness. The use off the new social media such
as You Tube, Twitter, Linked In and Facebook for
climate change communication purposes is not
widely spread yet. Use off these media will even
further increase awareness and create commitment
for the city government spending money on
climate adaptation. It also will inspire people to
145
Future
outlook
3
11
Climate change adaptation is considered one off the

largest challenges for mankind in 21st century. CDC
was erected to give delta cities a platform for dialogue,
exchange off knowledge and joined actions. Doing
nothing is not an option, but whatever has to be done
needs to be part off a long term strategy and as well as
a short term action plan, both based on an integrated
climate change adaptation strategy. Knowledge
development and exchange are indespensable in
this approach. The CDC-publications including this
bookk contribute to this knowledge exchange, as they
visualize the approaches and the best practices in
different
ff
cities and make a comparison possible. At the
same moment these publications contribute to raising
awareness.
This book, therefore, explores the different
ff
aspects
off climate adaptation in delta cities. It is an
investigation off comparable adaptation challenges
and opportunities and off progress in adaptation plans
and investments in the eight Connecting Delta Cities
(CDC) cities off Rotterdam, New York, Jakarta, London,
New Orleans, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Ho Chi Minh City.
Also other climate adaptation networks like The Delta
Alliance and recent climate adaptation initiatives and
events like in Melbourne and Shanghai are described
in the book.
The first
fi CDC bookk marked the launch off the CDC
networkk and a first
fi reconnaissance. It described how
climate change adaptation was dealt with in the three
CDC cities New York, Rotterdam and Jakarta. This
second bookk focuses on the expanding Connecting
Delta Cities networkk and the experiences and best
practices off eight CDC cities with climate change
adaptation, as well as wit a first assessment off their
strategies. Continuing this development, it makes

sense to plan the writing off a third CDC bookk to cover
the implementation off climate change adaptation
strategies. This third bookk could also focus on specific
fi
topics like communication or climate prooff spatial
planning and give a report on fruitful knowledge
exchange between CDC cities. Your input, comments
and ideas about this proposed follow up are more then
welcome and will be highly appreciated. Send us your
opinion and help us decide on the content off the third
CDC book.
Connecting Delta Cities is a flexible networkk that
closely collaborates with similar and complementary
cities and initiatives. Some off them were already
described in this book, the following text boxes
describe two more examples off succesful climate
change adaptation and knowledge exchange, in
Melbourne and at the Shanghai World Expo 2010.
Figure 11.2 Dutch Pavilion Shanghai World Expo 2010.
147
Melbourne
Figure 11.3 Melbourne dock city skyline (courtesy of Port of Melbourne)
Melbournes recent experience of climaterelated hazards such as drought and

bushfires, and the need to plan for the
threat of future sea level rise, is driving
new thinking and action on climate change
adaptation.
Melbourne, the capital of the State of Victoria, is the

most southerly of Australian mainland capital cities.
The metropolitan area is dissected by the Yarra River
which then empties into Port Phillip Bay, one of the
worlds largest bays. Beyond the bustle of the central
business district, the city gives way to suburbs which
sprawl 40 km to the south (following the curve of the
bay), 30 km eastwards, and a further 20 km onto the
northern plains, covering an area of well over
8,000 km2 and almost 4 million inhabitants. The city
can be characterized as being of low-density urban
form with high levels of car use. Urban containment
is an important contemporary debate in this fast
growing city.
Melbourne is well known as a cosmopolitan city
with inhabitants coming from 140 nations around
the world. The earliest inhabitants were members

of the Kulin nations Melbourne is actually settled
on an area that was a regular meeting place for
local Indigenous clans. However, they were rapidly
displaced by English settlers in the 1830s, with more
arriving as a result of the 1850s gold rush. In more
recent times, large numbers of Second World War
refugees from south Europe and the Baltic regions
brought with them a rich Mediterranean culture.
Diversity of urban life was further enhanced by
refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia in the late
1970s. A strong Asian influence continues to this day,
evidenced by large numbers of international students
who add a youthful vibrancy to the city centre.
Melbourne is also Australias busiest cargo port and
largest container port.M1 An area adjacent to the port
area has been reclaimed and a new suburb, comprising
high rise apartments and corporate headquarters, has
sprung up on the river frontage. Port activity is forecast
to grow fairly rapidly, one consequence of which was a
controversial decision to dredge the narrow entrance
of Port Phillip Bay and deepen the shipping channels
to allow access at all tides for large container vessels.
Legislation introduced to State Parliament in June
2010 has also set in motion plans to merge the ports of
Melbourne and Hastings which would act to increase
shipping capacity, taking advantage of Hastings
natural location outside of Port Phillip Bay.
Temperatures have, on average, risen by about 1C
over the past 50 years in Australia. Although located
in the more temperate south, Melbourne has had
to cope with a 13 year drought, serious bush fire
episodes in peri-urban areas in 2007 and 2009, and
a heat wave in 2009 which resulted in scores of
CONNECTING DELTA CITIES 2010
Figure 11.4 Melbourne ( City of Melbourne 2010).
fatalities and significant impacts on key elements of

urban infrastructure, the electricity sector being the
most severely affected. This was also the year that
saw a heat wave of unprecedented intensity and
duration, with three consecutive days reaching above
43C, followed by the hottest day ever recorded,
reaching 46.4C. It is this peak in temperature that
concurred with the outbreak of the bushfires around
Melbourne. In response to this extreme event, roles
and responsibilities for emergency management were
clarified, and a review of the heat wave action plan is
now being conducted by the Victorian Department of
Health
Scenarios supporting the City of Melbournes
adaptation strategy suggest an increase in
temperature (up to 2.6 degrees Celsius by 2070),
149
though in line with many of the major Australian

cities, Melbourne has also turned to technical fixes to
address problems of water shortage. These include
a new energy intensive desalinization plant which
will become operational in 2011 and the Sugarloaf
pipeline which will transfer water from the north of the
State to meet the needs of metropolitan Melbourne.
Current day flood risks are mainly confined to
extreme storm events and the failings of storm-water
systems. Periodically Melbourne is subjected to
heavy rain and widespread flash flooding due to its
natural floodplains, the reduction of permeability by
suburban development, and an aging storm-water
infrastructure. However, with over 40 km of the urban
area exposed to a beachfront, the threat of sea level
rise is now being taken very seriously by Melbourne
a corresponding increase in the number of days of

extreme heat (an extra 20 days over 35 degrees),
reductions in rainfall most notably in spring, and an
uncertain rise in sea levels. This is currently suggested
as between 26 cm and 59 cm, though 80cm is being
used to inform coastal planning decisions.M2
Given the recent history of drought conditions it is
perhaps of little surprise that Melbourne communities
have become accustomed to the need to conserve
water. High profile awareness-raising campaigns,
the promotion of water sensitive urban design, and
behavioral change initiatives such as promotion of
domestic rain tanks, are reflective of an underlying
cultural shift and an increased public acceptance of
the need to modify behavior in order to manage an
increasingly scarce resource. More controversially,
authorities. The Victorian Coastal Strategy (2008) M3

has highlighted sea level rise and the combination
of population growth and development pressures as
key issues to be addressed. Sea level rise is currently
recorded as between 2.4 and 2.8 mm per year, with
planning guidance recommending the consideration
of a minimum rise of 0.8 meters by 2100 (to be
refined as new knowledge becomes available). Highresolution risk assessment is being carried out as
part of the Future Coasts programme M4 in order to
better understand likely future impacts and to design
coastal adaptation strategies. Sea level rise will have
significant implications for commonly affluent bayside
suburbs and it has also been recognized that these
impacts could have significant implications for the
structural and functional resilience of Melbournes
major commercial ports (the Port of Melbourne being
the largest of these).
In response to current and future climate risks, the
adaptation agenda is also being driven by important
policy initiatives at the sub-national scale. In 2009,
the City of Melbourne released a municipal Climate
Adaptation Strategy noting that operational
research was needed to assess localized risks and
identify suitable adaptation responses in the city.
Adaptation is also being supported at the State level
with the Victorian government releasing a Climate
Change Green Paper in 2009. Victoria is the only
State in Australia to have committed to supporting
and funding adaptation research through the
establishment of the Victorian Centre for Climate
Change Adaptation Research (VCCCAR). Activity
includes funding research projects to analyze regional
priorities, hosting an international research fellow,
organizing regional think tanks, and holding an annual
adaptation forum for interested stakeholders.
Climate change presents particular challenges for

delta cities. Rising sea levels, increasing temperatures
and increased frequency of storm surges and other
climate related events will place new pressures on ports,
infrastructure, and communities. Effective adaptation to
these challenges will require different approaches to the
future management of our urban environment.
Professor Rod Keenan
Director, Victorian Centre for Climate Change
Adaptation Research
151
Shanghai-Rotterdam
Water Conference at
World Expo 2010
On Thursday, 10 June 2010, the Happy Street Holland

Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo was the
venue of the Shanghai-Rotterdam Water Conference.
The official opening was performed by Paula
Verhoeven, Climate Director of the City of Rotterdam,
and Zhu Shiqing, Deputy Director of the Shanghai
Water Authority.
Reason for the conference was that Shanghai and

Rotterdam both face the challenge off preserving
the attractive qualities off their cities, despite
climate change, by implementing innovative
water management. The Shanghai-Rotterdam
Water Conference therefore offered
ff
an excellent
opportunity to share and exchange knowledge and
experience gained from best practices. Students
from the Netherlands and China exchanged and
compared best practices on climate change adaption
from their countries in public classes. A number
off lectures addressed topics such as storm-surge
barriers, adaptation strategies, rainwater storage and
ecologically sustainable flood management. Cases
were presented from Shanghai, Rotterdam and New
Orleans, al looking for to make these low lying delta
regions safe and resilient from floods.
153
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References illustrations
The publishers gratefully acknowledge the following for permission to use the illustrations indicated: 30 Figure 8.11 - Roel Dijkstra; 32 RDM Campus - Fotografie Marijke
Volkers; 60 Figure 5.3 (left) Marfai (right) Novira; 66 Figure 5.6 - Marfai; 67 Figure 5.6 - Marfai; 70 Figure 5.9 - Marfai; 71 Mayor of London - James O. Jenkins; 92 Flood - ANP
Photos; 95 Photo left - Bas Jonkman; 103 Figure 8.4 - DSD; 103 Figure 8.4 - DSD; 111 Figure 8.11 - Fotografie W.P. Pauw; 126 HCMC - Peter Stucking; and iStockphoto.
Contact Information CDC secretariat

Ms. Chantal Oudkerk Pool
Address
WTC Beursplein 37, 3011 AA Rotterdam,
the Netherlands
E-mail
info@deltacities.com
Website
www.deltacities.com
159
At present, more than 50 percent of the worlds

population lives in cities. According to the
United Nations, more than two thirds of the
worlds large cities are vulnerable to rising sea
levels, exposing millions of people to the risk of
extreme floods and storms. Within the next
30 years, the number of people living in cities
will increase to 60 percent of the worlds
population, resulting in even more people living
in highly exposed areas.
This book explores the different aspects of
climate adaptation and the various challenges
delta cities in the world face. It is an investigation
of comparative adaptation problems and
progress in the cities of Rotterdam, New York,
Jakarta, London, New Orleans, Hong Kong,
Tokyo and Ho Chi Minh City. Each city faces
different challenges; one of the lessons of the
Connecting Delta Cities initiative is that while
cities will follow adaptation paths that may
differ, sometimes substantially, each city can
learn from the others.

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Connecting

P I E T D I R C K E , Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences

CONNECTING DELTA CITIES

Applied Sciences and ARCADIS. The Connecting Delta

Copyright 2010 City of Rotterdam / ISBN 978-90-816067-1-4

1. Climate change in delta cities

CONNECTING DELTA CITIES

8. Hong Kong 100

11. Conclusions on best

CONNECTING DELTA CITIES

The world is currently facing a new challenge. Climate

This book is a sequel on the first Connecting Delta

At the same time, many delta cities suffer from

sharing and exchanging experience and knowledge

adaptation paths that may diff

This bookk explores the different

CLIMATE CHANGE IN DELTA CITIES

The IPCC fourth Assessment Report states that it is

The development off adaptation strategies that focus

local water management and climate change issues,

CLIMATE CHANGE IN DELTA CITIES

and Rotterdam, show an increase in mean sea level

scenarios indicate a sea level rise off 108-140 cm. Large

or system following the event through evacuation,

CLIMATE CHANGE IN DELTA CITIES

rate at which the water rises and the time allowed

INTRODUCING CONNECTING DELTA CITIES

origin off the CDC initiative

Affiliate C40 cities (19) are:

Delta cities can benefit

Tokyo 2008: the birth off Connecting Delta Cities

Q Creating economic spin-offs

Q Exchange off adaptation strategies and

water management and spatial development

enhancing their vision on the future

The CDC network in

The CDC Network

INTRODUCING CONNECTING DELTA CITIES

Figure 2.2 Connecting Delta Cities (CDC) organization.

are capable of sharing knowledge with other C40

INTRODUCING CONNECTING DELTA CITIES

government bodies, and knowledge institutions and

in Copenhagen, and it has been shown on national

INTRODUCING CONNECTING DELTA CITIES

Rotterdam is situated in the heart of the

Ourr climate is changing. The consequences off climate

Rotterdam is the perfectt showcase forr climate change

Deltas in Times of Climate Change

A major milestone in 2010 is the Deltas

history. In the Netherlands, 26 percent off the country

have been reclaimed from former lakes (usually

The design surge level is determined at 4 m (the 1953

Socioeconomic effects of flooding

the potential number of casualties in the province of

below the Dutch safety standard and that must be

the city off Rotterdam. An Increasing sea levels lead

off 30 megatons in CO2 emissions, in conjunction with

The Rotterdam Climate Prooff (RCP) organization

For this reason, the Rotterdam Climate Initiative (RCI)

dense urban fabric, not creating a barrier disturbing

to assets. Floating homes may be part off this new

Rainwater storage, updating storm

inundating surrounding areas. An artists impression of

2ENC "ANJIR+ANAL 4IMUR