Climate change impacts are increasingly felt, especially in cities and urban areas. Rising temperatures exacerbated by the urban heat island (UHI) effect, creeping sea levels, and the increasing frequency and severity of extreme natural events like storms, floods, droughts, and heatwaves pose serious threats to infrastructure, properties, human health, and livelihoods.
The mounting climate change-related impacts call on cities to adapt, prepare, and build resilience.
Fortunately, as climate change threats grow, so do the solutions to mitigate and adapt to its impacts. Research and innovation are also crucial in monitoring progress and creating solutions for climate change.
Scientists and entrepreneurs continuously develop designs and solutions to enhance cities’ climate resilience in the face of intensifying and more frequent extreme events.
Nature-based solutions are becoming increasingly popular because they address the effects of climate change and offer to deliver biodiversity, human well-being, and societal benefits (Assessing the benefits, 2023).
Permeable surfaces are considered a nature-based solution in the same category as green roofs, bioswales, rain gardens, and open natural water streams. They minimize damaging runoff by absorbing stormwater, reducing flood risks, and safeguarding the freshwater ecosystem.
A Norwegian design company, Snøhetta, collaborated with leading concrete paver manufacturer ASAK Miljøstein to design and create a new permeable paver system. They have developed three types of permeable hexagonal-shaped interlocking concrete paver systems that can be combined to create paved streets and city surfaces.
The permeability of these pavement systems can help cities manage larger water loads, a water management solution to enhance urban resilience to climate challenges.
Permeable surfaces allow water to be filtered into the soil at the source. This simple solution significantly reduces demand on stormwater infrastructure, which can reduce flooding risk and is especially useful in extreme weather events.
Innovative designs like this permeable paving system are innovative stormwater solutions for urban environments.
It can enhance urban areas’ climate resilience and is particularly helpful in cities that experience increasing rainfall, rapid population growth, demand for more structures and development, and limited drainage system capacity.
Sources:
Building More Resilient Cities With Permeable Paving. (2024, November 13). World Intellectual Property Organization. Retrieved from https://x.com/WIPO/status/1856592839259631997
Patel, P. (2024). Building Climate-Resilient Cities. c&en. Retrieved from https://cen.acs.org/sections/building-climate-resilient-cities.html
Snøhetta creates hexagonal paver system for urban landscapes. (2023, November 24). Dezeen. Retrieved from https://www.dezeen.com/2023/11/24/snohetta-flyt-hexagonal-paver-system/
FLYT – Asak. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://old.snohetta.com/projects/631-flyt-asak
Assessing the Benefits and Costs of Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience: A Guideline for Project Developers. (2023, May 22). World Bank Group. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2023/05/22/assessing-the-benefits-and-costs-of-nature-based-solutions-for-climate-resilience-a-guideline-for-project-developers
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