A Doomed Failure?: Climate Adaptation-Oriented Urban Planning That Will Probably Never Reach Climate Integrity

Adaptation to climate has been just as important as reduction CO₂ to achieve carbon neutral society. But is adaptation measure destinated to fail? This presentation will discuss the difficulties of urban planning policy that can be used to adapt to climate change based on a case study conducted in central Stockholm, Sweden. In Slussen area, redevelopment project (hereafter, New Slussen) has been underway with the target of completion in 2025. At first, it started due to the aging of the structures, but later, adaptation to climate change was added as another reason. In this area, adaptation to rising seawater and water level has become an unavoidable issue gradually, because Slussen is located to the intersection of the Baltic Sea (Saltsjön) and the lake Mälaren. New Slussen nearly completed, but climate change prediction is continuing to worsen. As scientific findings updated, New Slussen becomes vulnerable to climate change. In contrast, the findings provide strong evidence of criticism for citizens who have criticized this project from the viewpoint of climate change. This case study suggests the following. The time difference between scale of decision making related to climate adaptation and time scale of updating the scientific knowledge makes urban planning never reaching climate integrity.