Uniting imagination and evidence by design to navigate climate survival in urbanizing deltas

Urbanizing river deltas are highly susceptible to sea level rise and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. Water-related disasters are already happening more often due to climate change, rapid urbanization, unsustainable land use and aging infrastructure threatening a large fraction of...

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Main Authors: Chris Zevenbergen, Maurice G. Harteveld, Pieter Bloemen, Maarten van Ham, Wim van den Doel, Marcel H. Hertogh, Fransje Hooimeijer, Taneha Bacchin, Eddy Moors, Jeroen Rijke, Ellen Tromp
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024-11-01
Series:npj Ocean Sustainability
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-024-00094-2
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author Chris Zevenbergen
Maurice G. Harteveld
Pieter Bloemen
Maarten van Ham
Wim van den Doel
Marcel H. Hertogh
Fransje Hooimeijer
Taneha Bacchin
Eddy Moors
Jeroen Rijke
Ellen Tromp
author_facet Chris Zevenbergen
Maurice G. Harteveld
Pieter Bloemen
Maarten van Ham
Wim van den Doel
Marcel H. Hertogh
Fransje Hooimeijer
Taneha Bacchin
Eddy Moors
Jeroen Rijke
Ellen Tromp
author_sort Chris Zevenbergen
collection DOAJ
description Urbanizing river deltas are highly susceptible to sea level rise and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. Water-related disasters are already happening more often due to climate change, rapid urbanization, unsustainable land use and aging infrastructure threatening a large fraction of human and natural environments in these low lying and sinking areas around the globe. As stress levels of climate change are accelerating, societal and physical transformations are essential for adapting our deltas to climate change. In the Netherlands, imagination and evidence by design in the form of a long-term spatial vision, played a pivotal role in the past century to set, share and accomplish a new direction to overcome flood disasters by altering the coastlines and riverbeds of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. The unprecedented rainfall in July 2021 and the storm in December 2021 which hit Western Europe revealed the effectiveness of this new direction. We therefore plea for a prominent role of design in climate science and delta management to imagine, analyse and communicate future perspectives for climate adaptation in urbanizing deltas.
format Article
id doaj-art-9ded5619cdce437e8ace35aa13f02c24
institution OA Journals
issn 2731-426X
language English
publishDate 2024-11-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series npj Ocean Sustainability
spelling doaj-art-9ded5619cdce437e8ace35aa13f02c242025-08-20T02:13:35ZengNature Portfolionpj Ocean Sustainability2731-426X2024-11-01311510.1038/s44183-024-00094-2Uniting imagination and evidence by design to navigate climate survival in urbanizing deltasChris Zevenbergen0Maurice G. Harteveld1Pieter Bloemen2Maarten van Ham3Wim van den Doel4Marcel H. Hertogh5Fransje Hooimeijer6Taneha Bacchin7Eddy Moors8Jeroen Rijke9Ellen Tromp10Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and the Build EnvironmentIHE Delft Institute for Water EducationStaff Delta Programme CommissionerIHE Delft Institute for Water EducationLeiden UniversityDelft University of Technology, Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Faculty of Civil EngineeringIHE Delft Institute for Water EducationIHE Delft Institute for Water EducationDelft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and the Build EnvironmentHAN University of Applies SciencesDeltaresUrbanizing river deltas are highly susceptible to sea level rise and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts. Water-related disasters are already happening more often due to climate change, rapid urbanization, unsustainable land use and aging infrastructure threatening a large fraction of human and natural environments in these low lying and sinking areas around the globe. As stress levels of climate change are accelerating, societal and physical transformations are essential for adapting our deltas to climate change. In the Netherlands, imagination and evidence by design in the form of a long-term spatial vision, played a pivotal role in the past century to set, share and accomplish a new direction to overcome flood disasters by altering the coastlines and riverbeds of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. The unprecedented rainfall in July 2021 and the storm in December 2021 which hit Western Europe revealed the effectiveness of this new direction. We therefore plea for a prominent role of design in climate science and delta management to imagine, analyse and communicate future perspectives for climate adaptation in urbanizing deltas.https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-024-00094-2
spellingShingle Chris Zevenbergen
Maurice G. Harteveld
Pieter Bloemen
Maarten van Ham
Wim van den Doel
Marcel H. Hertogh
Fransje Hooimeijer
Taneha Bacchin
Eddy Moors
Jeroen Rijke
Ellen Tromp
Uniting imagination and evidence by design to navigate climate survival in urbanizing deltas
npj Ocean Sustainability
title Uniting imagination and evidence by design to navigate climate survival in urbanizing deltas
title_full Uniting imagination and evidence by design to navigate climate survival in urbanizing deltas
title_fullStr Uniting imagination and evidence by design to navigate climate survival in urbanizing deltas
title_full_unstemmed Uniting imagination and evidence by design to navigate climate survival in urbanizing deltas
title_short Uniting imagination and evidence by design to navigate climate survival in urbanizing deltas
title_sort uniting imagination and evidence by design to navigate climate survival in urbanizing deltas
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-024-00094-2
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