SOLVING INDUSTRY CHALLENGES

Cities

Urban planning

Elaborating and comparing scenarios for climate change adaptation

Cities are expected to be home to almost 70% of the world's population by 2050 (UN-Habitat Report 2022). Their exposure to climate change is major for both inhabitants and infrastructure (floods, fires, air quality, soil stability, heat islands, loss of biodiversity, etc.). Local authorities and urban planners are identifying, measuring and limiting these impacts, in particular by exploiting nature-based solutions. Adaptation to climate change and extreme events requires living soil and the preservation of natural habitats. Cities are questioning their needs: building, redeveloping, acting on ecological continuity and monitoring net soil artificialisation.

Green PRAXIS helps make the right decisions

Our natural asset management platform serves as a digital and objective link between the various project stakeholders: architects, urban planners, local authorities, landscapers, developers
Our modeling capabilities enable us to assess various impacts and risks: artificialisation, heat islands, improvement of ecological continuity, risk of flooding or fire
We enable scenarios to be drawn up, strategies to be devised and strategies to be compared using 4 scores: costs, biodiversity, carbon sequestration and risks

ILLUSTRATIVE USE CASE

Environmental Impacts of Urban Projects

The Challenge

The challenge is to assist key stakeholders in making informed decisions regarding urban development by providing them with the ability to compare the impacts of different plans on environmental and economic measures. This includes the identification of diagnostic indicators, proposing Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), and modeling the effects of these solutions on key environmental and economic indicators. Additionally, the goal is to enhance communication among stakeholders by providing a user interface platform that facilitates dialogue and decision-making processes.

The METHOD

The approach involved the establishment of diagnostic indicators and the assessment of relevant and applicable Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). The method focused on modeling the impacts of NBS on key environmental and economic indicators. The process included setting up a comprehensive database and mapping of Nature-Based Solutions, as well as the development of tasks related to define, design, and model sustainable and nature-based solutions (SFN) through a user interface platform. This methodology empowered stakeholders to compare the impacts of different urban development plans on environmental and economic measures.

The RESULTS

The implementation of an interface enables the setup of architectural plans on a specific site, providing stakeholders with the ability to build, optimize, and compare various scenarios with emphasis on objective factors. This facilitates dialogue among stakeholders and significantly improves decision-making processes by shifting away from opinion-based exchanges to metrics-based assessments considering costs, risks, carbon footprint, and biodiversity. The ability to quickly compare different versions of urban development projects objectively allows for more rapid and reliable measurement of their impacts on environmental and economic dimensions.