How we (re)design cities will play a major role in alleviating climate stressors and building community resilience to extreme events as the world continues to urbanize. Moving forward, the impact of the built environment on urban climate cannot be considered in isolation; it needs to be examined holistically in the context of the human environment, i.e. the people who live in cities, social structures, and public policy implications. This requires a paradigm shift from urban adaptation and mitigation solutions to personal and societal outcomes if those solutions were to be implemented.

This session solicits outcome-focused studies that address critical issues in the urban atmosphere and their impacts on people, communities, and society. We welcome submissions of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary teams and encourage collaborative studies with practitioners, stakeholders, city managers, emergency responders, NGOs, and partners from industry. We are also interested in studies that help build community resilience to extreme events, support decision-making, and potentially transform policy and practice. Observational and modelling studies are welcome, as well as qualitative and mixed methods research and work that employs novel sensing or simulation techniques, big data products, and machine learning.

WMO and its international urban expert team is promoting safe, healthy and resilient cities through the development of Integrated Urban Weather, Environment and Climate Services. The aim is to build urban services that meet the special needs of cities through a combination of dense observation networks, high-resolution forecasts, multi-hazard early warning systems, disaster management plans and climate services. This approach gives cities the tools they need to reduce emissions, build thriving and resilient communities and implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

WMO Guidance on Integrated Urban Hydrometeorological, Climate and Environmental Services. Volume 1: Concept and Methodology, WMO-No. 1234. https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=9903

WMO Guidance on IUS. Volume 2: Demonstration Cities. June 2019. https://elioscloud.wmo.int/share/s/Rf3EW264RZWGJuLrCuzo9w

This is the corresponding poster session of the same title oral session.

This is the corresponding poster session for the oral of same title.

This is the corresponding poster session to the above.

This is the poster version of the corresponding session of same title.

This is the poster version of the corresponding oral session.

This will be the second part of the session on extreme heat.

Imbalances among geography, ecology, economy, society and institutions are compromising the future sustainability of cities.  Rapid demographic growth, economic expansion, and the increasing environmental footprint of cities have triggered dynamics that challenge city institutions.  There are now more than 37 megacities – cities with populations of more than 10 million inhabitants – and more than half of urban populations are concentrated in cities with at least one million inhabitants. Furthermore, most cities are located in areas highly vulnerable to disasters, with cities in less-developed regions both at higher risk of exposure to disaster and more vulnerable to disaster-related economic losses and mortality.  New tools and integrated approaches that strengthen city governance can reduce disaster risk and better protect human, economic, and environmental assets.  Earth Observations are emerging as an important resource for monitoring environmental hazards, quantifying risk and providing complex visualizations on the interconnectedness of populations, key infrastructure, and climate-related processes. For example, remote sensing imagery is being used to delineate human settlements as well as the locations of critical infrastructure, e.g., roads, highways, bridges.  This session will explore how Earth Observations are being applied at the city scale, particularly when they are integrated with information about the cities’ economic, physical and social systems.  Specifically, the session will examine how remote sensing and Earth system modeling can enhance local organizations' planning and operations.  This session seeks submissions that consider:

1. Integration of Earth Observations, models and tools for the benefit of cities at short-term (e.g., air quality, water quality, disaster response) and longer-term scales (e.g., infrastructure planning, transportation policy);
2. Research combining social science and physical science to improve understanding of vulnerability and exposure within cities; and
3. Examples of programmatic and technical approaches that build predictive capacity within city institutions and local networks by harnessing Earth Observations.

Imbalances among geography, ecology, economy, society and institutions are compromising the future sustainability of cities.  Rapid demographic growth, economic expansion, and the increasing environmental footprint of cities have triggered dynamics that challenge city institutions.  There are now more than 37 megacities – cities with populations of more than 10 million inhabitants – and more than half of urban populations are concentrated in cities with at least one million inhabitants. Furthermore, most cities are located in areas highly vulnerable to disasters, with cities in less-developed regions both at higher risk of exposure to disaster and more vulnerable to disaster-related economic losses and mortality.  New tools and integrated approaches that strengthen city governance can reduce disaster risk and better protect human, economic, and environmental assets.  Earth Observations are emerging as an important resource for monitoring environmental hazards, quantifying risk and providing complex visualizations on the interconnectedness of populations, key infrastructure, and climate-related processes. For example, remote sensing imagery is being used to delineate human settlements as well as the locations of critical infrastructure, e.g., roads, highways, bridges.  This session will explore how Earth Observations are being applied at the city scale, particularly when they are integrated with information about the cities’ economic, physical and social systems.  Specifically, the session will examine how remote sensing and Earth system modeling can enhance local organizations' planning and operations.  This session seeks submissions that consider:

1. Integration of Earth Observations, models and tools for the benefit of cities at short-term (e.g., air quality, water quality, disaster response) and longer-term scales (e.g., infrastructure planning, transportation policy);
2. Research combining social science and physical science to improve understanding of vulnerability and exposure within cities; and
3. Examples of programmatic and technical approaches that build predictive capacity within city institutions and local networks by harnessing Earth Observations.

This is the poster session for the corresponding oral session.

This is the poster version of this session.

This is the poster session version of the oral session of same title.

This is the poster session for the corresponding oral session of same title.