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Evaluating Cities’ Adaptation to Climate Change: A Novel Approach to Urban Climate Resilience

Discipline: Data Science, Geography

Summary: Climate refers to typical weather patterns persisting over a large area for many years. Climate change is a major and ongoing global issue with significant implications for urban areas. With their reliance on people, infrastructure, and resources, cities are particularly vulnerable to climate change's effects, which include more frequent and severe extreme weather events such as floods, storms, and heat waves. Cities' ability to withstand these events and adapt to changing climate patterns is crucial for long-term sustainability and population well-being. Climate resilience refers to a city's ability to absorb, or recover from, and adapt to the effects of climate change. Urban climate resilience and opportunities for improving the adaptation of cities to climate change can be understood by analyzing their physical, environmental, morphological, and socioeconomic traits. The goal of this study is to assess the climate resilience of Ankara, Turkey's capital city, as well as to evaluate the level of awareness for climate change and climate resilience among high school students. A comprehensive data of temperature, precipitation, and humidity levels were compared using meteorological and socioeconomic information from two different periods, 1929-1944 and 2004-2019. A scoring system was created to assess the city's climate resilience, and 154 high school students were assessed by a poll prepared in light of previous in vitro studies to determine the level of awareness for climate change and climate resilience. The findings reveal that the capital city of Türkiye, Ankara is vulnerable to climate change and the 2004-2019 period had become warmer than the previous period. On the other hand, the poll results showed that most participants were aware of climate change, while only 39% had an understanding of climate resilience, indicating an interest for further information. The study provides important insights into the need to increase awareness regarding climate change and the significant need for action to improve the climate resilience of most of the metropolises in Türkiye, starting with Ankara, in the face of upcoming climate challenges.

Key Words: Climate Change, Urban Climate Resilience

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