Climate-resilient, Climate-friendly World Heritage Cities

While the negative impacts of climate change on urban areas are well-known and widely discussed, its implicit impacts on historic downtowns have not been studied as extensively. In recent years, cultural heritage conservation and valorization have increasingly become drivers of local economic development. Many projects supported by the World Bank in this field help leverage cultural heritage for economic development while developing infrastructure and services for residents and enhancing the livability of cities. The World Bank has also been very active in addressing climate change risks and increasing resiliency of urban areas. This paper is an effort to merge these two critical agendas. The paper investigates the impacts of climate change on 237 world heritage cities (WHC) and provides an overview of the geographic distribution of these cities around the globe. It discusses the importance of historic downtowns and provides various options available to the governments of these cities to address risk mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Further, it provides examples of WHC which have taken action to address vulnerability to the adverse impacts of climate change. This report is organized in following five sections: section one presents an overview of WHC, geographic distribution, and the growth of the urban agglomerations to which they belong. Section two presents the natural hazard risks and climate change impacts facing WHC, their location on the coastline or interior, and their rank in terms of level of vulnerability. Section three outlines the characteristics that historic cities have in terms of carbon emissions and potential for climate change mitigation. Section four discusses the sources of financing which WHC may turn to in order to address climate change mitigation and adaptation. Section five presents the climate change adaptation and mitigation action plans being implemented in the WHC of Paris, Tunis, Edinburgh, Mexico City, Hue, and Quito.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Bigio, Anthony Gad, Ochoa, Maria Catalina, Amirtahmasebi, Rana
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2014-06
Subjects:	ACCESSIBILITY, AIR, AIR CONDITIONERS, AIR CONDITIONING, AIR POLLUTION, AIR QUALITY, AIR TRANSPORT, AIR TRAVEL, AMBIENT POLLUTION, AMBIENT TEMPERATURES, ATMOSPHERE, ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY, AUTOMOBILE, AUTOMOBILE EMISSIONS, BIKE SHARE, BIOGAS, BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, BUILDING STOCK, BUILDING TYPES, BUS, BUS NETWORK, BUSES, CAPITAL INVESTMENT, CAR, CAR DEPENDENCY, CAR OWNERSHIP, CAR SHARING, CAR TRIPS, CARBON, CARBON ABATEMENT, CARBON CONTENT, CARBON DIOXIDE, CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS, CARBON EMISSIONS, CARBON FOOTPRINT, CARBON MITIGATION, CARBON OFFSETTING, CARS, CATHEDRAL, CERTIFIED EMISSION REDUCTIONS, CITY DEVELOPMENT, CIVILIZATION, CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISMS, CLIMATE, CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION, CLIMATE PROTECTION, CLIMATES, CLIMATIC CONDITIONS, CO, CO2, COAL, COMBUSTION, COMMUTERS, CONGESTION, CONGESTION CHARGES, CONGESTION PRICING, CONSERVATION PLANS, CONSTRUCTION PROCESS, CONVERGENCE, CULTURAL HERITAGE, CULTURAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION, CULTURAL LIFE, CULTURAL SITES, CULTURES, CYCLONES, DEMAND FOR TRAVEL, DIESEL, DISASTER REDUCTION, DISASTER RISK, DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT, DISASTER RISK REDUCTION, DISASTER RISKS, DRAINAGE, DRIVERS, DRIVING, DROUGHT, EARTHQUAKES, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ELECTRICITY, EMISSION, EMISSION REDUCTIONS, EMISSIONS ABATEMENT, EMISSIONS FROM TRANSPORT, EMISSIONS LEVELS, EMISSIONS REDUCTION, EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS, ENERGY CONSUMPTION, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, ENERGY MIX, ENERGY SOURCES, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, FINANCIAL INCENTIVES, FINE ARTS, FLOODS, FOREST, FORESTRY, FORESTS, FOSSIL FUELS, GASOLINE, GHG, GHGS, GLOBAL EMISSIONS, GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY, GLOBAL WARMING, GREENHOUSE, GREENHOUSE GAS, GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, HEATING SYSTEMS, HERITAGE CITY, HISTORIC BUILDINGS, HISTORIC CITIES, HISTORIC CORES, HISTORIC DOWNTOWN, HISTORIC MONUMENTS, HISTORIC PRESERVATION, HISTORIC STRUCTURES, INCINERATION, INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, INFRASTRUCTURES, LAKES, LAND USE, LAND USE PATTERNS, LAND USE POLICIES, LANDFILL, LANDFILL GAS, LOW-CARBON, LOWER CARBON EMISSIONS, MASS TRANSIT, MEANS OF TRANSPORT, METRO USAGE, METROPOLITAN TRANSPORT, METROPOLITAN TRANSPORT AUTHORITY, MIXED USE, MOBILITY, MODAL SHIFT, MONUMENTAL STRUCTURES, MOTOR VEHICLE, MOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC, MOTOR VEHICLES, MUSEUM, NARROW STREETS, NATIONAL FOREST AUTHORITY, NATURAL GAS, NEGATIVE IMPACTS, NEIGHBORHOODS, ORGANIC WASTE, PASSENGER TRANSPORT, PEDESTRIAN, PEDESTRIAN ZONES, POPULATION GROWTH, PRECIPITATION, PRIVATE AUTOMOBILES, PRIVATE VEHICLE, PRIVATE VEHICLES, PROPERTY TAXES, PUBLIC TRANSIT, PUBLIC TRANSPORT, PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICES, PUBLIC UTILITIES, RAIN, RAPID TRANSIT, REDUCTION IN EMISSIONS, RENEWABLE ENERGY, RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES, RENOVATION, RETROFITTING, ROAD, ROAD NETWORK, SAFETY, SANITATION, SIDEWALKS, SPEED LIMIT, STREET FURNITURE, STREET LIGHTING, STREET PARKING, STREETLIGHTS, STREETS, SUBURBAN SPRAWL, SUBURBS, SUSTAINABLE CITIES, TAX, TOURISM, TOURISTS, TRADITION, TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC VOLUME, TRAM, TRAM SYSTEM, TRANSIT STATIONS, TRANSIT SYSTEMS, TRANSPORT, TRANSPORT ALTERNATIVES, TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT PLAN, TRANSPORT SECTOR, TRANSPORTATION, TRANSPORTATION EFFICIENCIES, TRANSPORTATION POLICIES, TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS, TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, TRAVEL DEMAND, TRAVEL DEMAND MANAGEMENT, TRAVEL DISTANCES, TRAVEL TIMES, TRIPS, TRUE, TURBULENCE, UNEP, UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE, UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST, UNIVERSAL VALUE, URBAN DEVELOPMENT, URBAN PLANNING, URBAN SPRAWL, URBAN SYSTEMS, URBAN TRANSPORTATION, URBANIZATION, VEHICLE MILES, VEHICLE TRAVEL, VEHICLE USE, WALKING, WATER CYCLE, WATER TREATMENT, WEATHER CONDITIONS, WIND, WMO, WORLD HERITAGE, WORLD HERITAGE CITIES, WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION, WORLD HERITAGE LIST, WORLD HERITAGE SITES,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/01/19885149/climate-resilient-climate-friendly-world-heritage-cities https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19288
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