Guiding Urban Concepts and Climate Change in Germany’s Urban Planning Practice - A review of the recent academic discourse

This study looks at climate change in the context of Germany’s urban development. Key question is how cities can cope with increasing climate-related challenges as part of their urban planning and development response. To this end, the study describes existing guiding urban concepts in Germany and analyses them with the aim to assess to what extent sustainability and resilience aspects are already being considered. On the basis of this analysis, the study provides suggestions on how climate mitigation and adaptation can be integrated more strongly in existing guiding urban concepts. The study has been produced by the global project “Cities Fit for Climate Change” (CFCC) and is meant to showcase approaches to climate-friendly urban development from Germany for possible replication efforts in other regional contexts. The CFCC project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.