Water square in Rotterdam
Water squares in Rotterdam an example of smart water adaptation
This video explains the impacts of climate change on cities, and ways to mitigate them.
The climate is changing and we can see it in the water cycle. In the last decade we have seen increasingly severe storms and rise in sea levels. There have been unprecendented floods on all continents. It even rained in Greenland. Floods are occuring all over the globe, especially in Africa.
Water flows in rivers and streams, through soil and plants and through the air and underground. Only a functioning biosphere can regulate water making it a catalyst for a virtual cycle.
Urban areas are hotspots for risks. Water however has the potential to trigger progress. Take the example of Rotterdam. City resilience office Arnound Molenar says, "We have introduced the concept of the water square to increase social cohesion, and quality of urban life. They are designed to store excessvie rainfall. Citizens can develop rain gardens and have also developed a program for green roofs. Rotterdam has been transformed by water resilience."
The story of Rotterdam is of living with water. Stakeholders have worked together to increase water resilient development.
Further resources
- Online tool listing Rotterdam adaptation and resilience measures
- Rooftop park - largest in Europe
- Floating Farm in Rotterdam
- Resilient Rotterdam
- Benthemplein - water square
- Smart rain barrels ZOHO
- Knowledge portal climate adaptation for The Netherlands
- Rotterdam, from a Port City to a Port Archipelago + Sponge Water City - Redesigning Deltas design study
- Blue-Green Infrastructure: the theory and practice – Rotterdam [webinar recording]
- o International Perceptions of Urban Blue-Green Infrastructure: A Comparison across Four Cities
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