Discover cities最新文献

Warmer temperatures in a future climate can lead to more frequent high intensity short-duration rainfall events, which can lead to frequent and severe flash floods. Such events pose significant threats to urban infrastructure, including urban overpasses, which have not been adequately explored. This study combines high-resolution (4 km) regional climate simulations from the Global Environmental Multiscale (GEM) model with two-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling, based on HEC-RAS, at 25 m spatial resolution to assess vulnerability of overpasses in Montreal, the second-largest city in Canada, under flood-induced hydrostatic, drag, and debris impact loads for different greenhouse gas emission scenarios. HEC-RAS simulations for design storms, developed following the Huff curve and Chicago methods, corresponding to 100-year return levels of 15-min, 1-h, and 6-h rainfall events for current and future climates obtained from GEM, suggest future increases in inundated areas by 13 to 31%, with higher changes being associated with shorter-duration events. Moreover, classification of overpasses into various risk categories (i.e., low, medium, and high) based on flood loads indicates potential increases in the number of overpasses in both high- and medium-risk categories in future climate. Risk categorization shows that 6-h duration events in current climate have the highest number of overpasses (30) in the high-risk category, with far future projections indicating increases of 17-200% in the number of high-risk overpasses across all storm durations. This foundational work will form the basis for detailed investigations focused on individual overpasses and infrastructure design considerations that account for the intensification of flash flood loads under future climate conditions to ensure climate resiliency.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44327-025-00172-1.

Adapting cities for climate resilience is crucial as climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. This study outlines a comprehensive set of resilience strategies aimed at enhancing urban resilience across four key domains: water, food, shelter, and energy. These strategies, applicable to both new and existing neighborhoods, range from simple, short-term measures to complex, long-term initiatives. A three-pronged evaluation framework, consisting of three platforms, is introduced to assess these strategies where criteria are initially selected based on their impact on strategy adoption and implementation. This framework employs hypothetical scores and weights that can be adjusted for specific urban contexts through detailed studies. Key outcomes of the evaluation conducted in the first platform include a systematic method to rank strategies based on six criteria: cost, infrastructure impact, scalability, regulatory and zoning challenges, community acceptance, and maintenance needs. For example, community gardens and rainwater harvesting systems are highly scalable and accepted, whereas green roofs require more investment and maintenance. The second and third platform of the framework facilitate the identification of strategies that enhance resilience across each of the resilience domains, as well as across several domains. The results highlight the top-performing strategies under different weighted scenarios. Strategies like green roofs strategy scores high in domains like water management, due to its capacity to absorb and manage stormwater, and energy, by providing natural insulation that reduces heating and cooling demands. Additionally, green roofs contribute to food production when utilized for urban agriculture and enhance shelter by improving building durability and increasing biodiversity This data-driven framework supports the strategic prioritization of resilience strategies, enhancing urban planning and investment decisions globally. Its modularity ensures adaptability to diverse urban settings and climatic issues.