Urban Adaptation Strategies in the UK

The United Kingdom (UK) - comprised of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales - is considered a forerunner in climate change adaptation (Benzie, 2014, p.238; Biesbroek et al., 2020; Boyd et al., 2024). For example, the influential Climate Change Committee, established by the Climate Change Act 2008, was the world's first independent, statutory body to oversee and review a nation’s domestic climate policy.

The Climate Change Act 2008 became the UK’s framework for lowering carbon emissions by 2050 to achieve net zero (Climate Change Committee, n.d.). The legally binding legislation applies to all countries of the UK, but the devolved governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are required to implement their own climate adaptation measures (UK Government, 2020). The Climate Change Committee (CCC), originally the Committee on Climate Change, was formed to evaluate targets, monitor climate policy, and advise the government (Dudley et al., 2022). Although it has no formal powers over the actions of the UK's local and national governments, its role as an independent and impartial body has given it “substantial influence” (Averchenkova et al., 2021) in climate change debate and policy. As such, similar bodies have been established by other nations.

Since 2008, a UK adaptation programme has been legally required. This article will discuss the future climate risks the country faces and examples of urban adaptation strategies implemented to reduce or limit the impacts of climate change.

Urban Adaptation Strategies

Urban adaptation strategies are defined by the European Climate Adaptation Platform (CLIMATE-ADAPT) as “the process of adjustment to the actual or expected climate and climate hazards, seeking to reduce the negative impacts or exploit beneficial opportunities” (Boulanger, 2023). These measures, however, have been unevenly implemented globally (Lenzholzer et al., 2020; Olazabal & Gopegui, 2021) or increased vulnerability as a result of “maladaptation” (Schipper, 2020). While the UK’s Climate Change Act 2008 established a “legal duty to act” (Climate Change Committee, n.d.), adaptation preparations between 2023–28 outlined in the government’s recently published Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) have been criticised by the CCC as lacking “the pace and ambition to address growing climate risks” (Climate Change Committee, 2024, p.4). This is despite the influence of the CCC on the government to create “one of the world’s most ambitious climate change targets” of net zero (Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, 2022).

Figure 1: Scorched grass in Greenwich Park, south-east London, during a heatwave in August 2022 (Hickson, 2022).

Global urban growth, by population and spatial development, will increase the challenges of dealing with natural hazards (Parker, 1995, p.114; Asiedu, 2020), such as flooding, earthquakes, and landslides (Mesta et al., 2022). These shock events—sudden and unexpected events that may lead to policy review and change (Bremer et al., 2020; Giordono et al., 2020)—in correlation with non-climatic variables of weak governance, poor urban planning and management, the lack of regulations, and inadequate sewage systems (Heltberg et al., 2009; Baker, 2011; Major et al., 2011; UNESCO, 2020; Birkmann et al., 2021) will further expose the local populace’s vulnerability to disasters and risks. Consequently, climate change “is influencing the way we understand and govern the places we live” (Bremer et al., 2020).

Throughout the UK, climate change is projected to cause hotter summers (leading to heatwaves and frequent droughts), wetter winters (affecting food production), and increased flooding (particularly in coastal areas). Roughly 85% of the UK population lives in towns and cities scattered across the island nation’s diverse environments and terrains; by 2050, this is projected to be 90% (Keat et al., 2021). Sea level rises, flooding, heatwaves, and storms are the extreme weather events that have already been experienced in urban centres across the country this century—such as the flooding of Morpeth, Northumberland, in September 2008 after heavy rainfall—and these extreme weather events will become more frequent as climate change intensifies. The severity of climate risks to the economy, productivity, and security of different sectors, from agriculture to transport, serving these urban areas will vary in scale, meaning adaptation strategies will be influenced by a range of local economic, political, and social factors (Mikulewicz, 2017; Cotton & Stevens, 2019).

Figure 2: The flood of Morpeth, 2008, occurred when the flood defences of the Northumberland town were overwhelmed by the rising water of the River Wansbeck (Dal, 2008 [cropped]).

The Local and Adaptation Strategies

Urban adaptation strategies consist of the technological and natural measures taken by cities to limit the effects of climate change (Lin et al., 2021; Ibrahim & Mohammed, 2023). With the input and oversight of strong local institutions (Sattherwaite et al., 2007, p.8), they have become essential for adapting urban populations and infrastructures to the inevitable climate challenges of the future. The importance of the local is noted by the 2014 Fifth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: “Climate adaptation is context dependent and it is uniquely linked to location, making it predominantly a local government and community level of action” (Mimura et al., 2014, p. 875, quoted in Arnold et al., 2020). The lack of local and national political will and financial resources, however, can be significant barriers to the successful implementation of adaptation strategies (Weyrich 2016).

London, the largest of the UK’s capital cities in terms of population, economics, and commerce, faces significant risks to its biodiversity, infrastructure, and growing population from a combination of future flooding (surface and rising sea levels), drought, and wildfires (Nickson, 2011). However, the recently published Climate Resilience Review (2024, July), an independent report commissioned by the Mayor of London, has described the city as “underprepared” for the severity of climate change (Boyd et al., 2024). Rising costs and funding cuts have been blamed for the lack of large-scale action for a city of global significance, contradicting the belief of Buser (2024, p.80) that "more affluent cities, communities and families will find climate resilience and adaptability easier to come by."

The capital, though, under the leadership of Mayor Sadiq Khan (2016-), has implemented several schemes and partnerships to improve its resilience. In 2018, London’s first integrated environmental strategy was launched, and in 2022, an ongoing ambitious target for the city to net zero by 2030 was announced.

Gwynedd local government, governing the county of Gwynedd in northwest Wales, has decided the seaside village of Fairbourne will be abandoned by the middle of this century due to accelerated sea level rise (Wyn, 2022; Arnall & Hilson, 2023). Coastal communities in the UK are at increasing risk from future coastal erosion and flooding (Buser, 2020; Young & Essex, 2020), but Fairbourne is an extreme case of adaptation. The low-lying village is protected from the Irish Sea by a shingle bank and concrete sea wall (Fairbourne Moving Forward Partnership, 2019). The residents have internationally been dubbed the UK’s “first climate change refugees" (Barnes & Dove, 2015, quoted in Wyn, 2022), as their community will become the first in the country to undergo a managed retreat due to climate change. A reminder that the experience of global, borderless climate risks is “everywhere and nowhere” (Jasanoff, 2010, p. 237, quoted in Arnall & Hilson, 2023).

Figure 3: Defending Fairbourne. A view of the shingle bank at Fairbourne, a coastal village in northwest Wales, at risk of sea level rise in the future (Searle, 2016).

By acknowledging a phased adaptation to eventually abandoning the village to the elements (Bennett-Lloyd et al., 2019; Jenkins et al., 2022), the 2012 Shoreline Management Plan for Fairbourne (West of Wales SMP2), adopted by Gwynedd and Welsh governments, has become a significant example of planned retreat instead of the standard measures protecting the shoreline from erosion and flooding (Buser, 2020). Faced with knowledge of the rising sea level gradually engulfing the village, engineering costs and challenges mean the strategy of holding the line—protective measures to preserve the shoreline—will no longer be viable after 2025 when local government intervention and investment in the village’s coastal defences cease. These surprising decisions by authorities demonstrate "the fragility of our communities" (Buser, 2024, p.80) faced with the unpredictability of climate change.

The Urban Heat Island Phenomenon

Climate change tests urban systems' strength and ability to withstand shock and stress (Leichenko, 2011). UK cities are nodal points of political and economic power but are both the drivers and victims of climate change, as well as biodiversity loss and soil degradation, because of their increasing emissions, energy use, and expansion (United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), 2011). However, due to the vulnerability of agriculture to changes in climate and weather patterns, the international focus has primarily been on socioeconomic rural projects that cost less and can be implemented quickly to create sustainable farming methods and food systems. Investment in urban adaptation strategies would enhance the resilience of the interconnected agricultural, energy, and transportation systems critical for a city to function and develop.

The impacts will differ between urban centres, but the general trend will be widening health, social, and well-being inequalities. The urban heat island phenomenon (UHI), a type of microclimate, is a localised risk exposing all town and city populations to warmer temperatures than their rural counterparts (Heaviside et al., 2016; Levermore et al., 2018). Densely populated urban areas, especially the country capitals of London (England), Edinburgh (Scotland), Cardiff (Wales), and Belfast (Northern Ireland)—with London the worst affected by its urban and industrial energy output (Wilby, 2003)—will experience the greatest temperature differences due to the concentration of heat in closely packed built environments and the lack of a natural cooling effect to absorb heat (Dawson, 2007, p.3088; O’Malley et al., 2014). Vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and children, are the most at risk of serious heat-related physical and mental health impacts (Tomlinson et al., 2011), and heat-related mortality rates are expected to increase (Keat et al., 2021).

Glasgow, Scotland’s most populous city with 622,820 inhabitants (as of June 2022), is vulnerable to UHI due to hotter summers linked to climate change (Emmanuel & Krüger, 2012). The city centre, where green spaces are limited (Climate Ready Clyde, 2021), is already experiencing summer temperature increases by up to 6˚C (Emmanuel et al., 2021).

Figure 4: Harvesting crops in Midlothian, Scotland. Wetter winters will affect food production in the UK (Williams, 2022).

As part of urban green infrastructure, tree planting has been implemented, in part to mitigate the increased heat and provide thermal comfort (Majekodunmi et al., 2023). The local government’s multi-million-pound Avenue’s Programme will initially green 21 streets, including the major Sauchiehall Street shopping thoroughfare (Ananyeva & Emmanuel, 2023). Similar initiatives to deliver socioeconomic benefits can be found in the English cities of Newcastle upon Tyne, northeast England, and Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Davies & Muro, 2023).

Glasgow has experienced a population decline since the 1960s when relocation occurred to new towns, such as Cumbernauld and East Kilbride, due to gradual deindustrialisation. Consequently, today only 28,000 live in the commercial hub of the “shrinking city” (Emmanuel & Krüger, 2012). This, however, has not prevented UHI from occurring, which Emmanuel & Krüger (2012), Krüger et al. (2013), and Emmanuel & Loconsole (2015) attribute to the city’s pollution, lack of vegetation, and built cover (roads, for example). Canopy or green cover could reduce the surface temperature by up to 2°C.

Future Outlook for the UK's Urban Green Infrastructure

Green infrastructure (GI) has emerged as a multifunctional solution for making UK urban areas more resilient to the challenges of climate change (Schiappacasse & Müller, 2015; Carter et al., 2024). A network of natural elements and environmental features is incorporated into urban planning, such as in Glasgow, to deliver ecosystem services of green spaces of allotments, gardens, and parks (Jones & Somper, 2014; Cameron & Blanuša, 2016) as a natural alternative to the human-built grey structures, such as buildings, roads, and sewers, “controlling” nature (Boyer, 2022). The elements of GI enable regulation (stormwater systems), the management of provisions (clean air and food production), and cultural enhancements (recreation) for an urban centre to function and improve the quality of life, i.e., “benefits that flow from nature to people.”

Figure 5: The Wennington wildfire in east London took place on 19 July 2022 during unprecedented heatwaves experienced by the country. No deaths were reported (Healy, 2022).

UK urban regions, however, are becoming more densely populated. Between 2022 and 2023, the country's urbanisation level rose by 0.3%, an upward trend consistent since the beginning of the century. Green spaces as a source of GI deliver many economic, health, and social benefits (Benzie et al., 2011; Alizadeh & Hitchmough, 2019), but urbanisation poses a challenge for implementing it since access to these assets becomes limited (Zuniga-Teran et al., 2020; Pamukcu-Albers et al., 2021). Furthermore, in recent years the UK has been recognised as one of the world's most nature-depleted countries (State of Nature, 2016, quoted in Laybourn-Langton et al., 2019, February), threatening society's health and well-being.

GI, however, has attained major importance in UK urban planning to create sustainable and resilient communities. It gained national recognition in the government's 25 Year Environment Plan, published in 2018, which aims to deliver a healthy, sustainable country for future generations (UK Government, 2018). The enthusiasm for GI as a sustainable solution to deliver social and health benefits can be found in many local government plans across the country, but beyond reports outlining long-term plans and the implementation of pilot projects, Young & Essex (2020) and Jenkins et al. (2022) highlight the UK trend of the short-termism of modern adaptation strategies rather than "fundamental transformational change" (Young & Essex, 2020).

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