Extreme-Heat Events Spur Climate Action, Using Geospatial Tech- Czech Republic

Country

Prague

Keyworld

Heat islands, geographic information system, GIS

Level:

Micro

Micro

Main result

Action Plan

Title

Extreme-Heat Events Spur Climate Action, Using Geospatial Tech

Date 2020

Objectives

Prague is particularly vulnerable to extreme heat. Compared to other European

cities, it has more paved spaces, built-up areas, and industrial infrastructure—the

kind of spaces that can create what are called heat islands. But Prague also

contains a significant amount of green space and vegetation, the kind of areas that can offer respite from the heat. From a planning perspective, this tapestry of

extremes presents a challenge, a puzzle to be solved so that Prague residents are equipped to deal with global warming.

Location /geographical coverage

Czech Republic, Prague

Organisation responsible for good practice

Prague City Hall in collaboration with Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR)

Short summary

Prague planners use geographic information system (GIS) for all scales of extreme heat exploration, from the micro to the macro, to know where to respond and to develop mitigation strategies.

• Prague is among the first cities to implement climate adaptation strategies

in the Czech Republic.

• Prague planners use GIS to understand where to act.

• Planners will deploy simulation tools to address climate adaptation for a

large redevelopment project.

Th Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR Prague) were mandated by the city to "enhance long-term resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate

change." They used geographic information system (GIS) technology.

IPR Prague combined three layers of geospatial data onto a single map to help

understand the challenge from a new point of view.

The first layer used satellite imaging to identify heat islands, areas with lots of pavement and industrial infrastructure that are especially prone to temperature increases. With heat waves killing grass and trees throughout Prague and rising temperatures leading to an increase in heart attacks among the elderly, IPR Prague had identified an imminent threat to the city and its residents.

The second layer contained precise data on the city's population density, allowing planners to quickly visualize where changes to the landscape could occur that would positively impact the largest number of people.

Finally, IPR Prague added a layer representing municipal regulations with which it

needed to comply, outlining the borders in which it could legally operate.

Combining these three layers gave IPR Prague a comprehensive understanding of its problem and solutions and directed it toward the best places to concentrate resources. The team began planting new vegetation and installing water features on rooftops, beneath train tracks, and in other places with great potential to cool down hot spots—locations that never would have been considered without layered spatial analysis.

Impact

For several years now, Prague has been trying to push for the digitalization of the

entire country to improve urban planning. This is one of the reasons for the creation of the CityDeal initiative, which brings together Czech cities and tries to improve the newly emerging building law. The success of using GIS tools will be a driving force for all other cities too.

Key to this strategy is a commitment to leverage data in a way that helps IPR

Prague understand how climate change currently affects Prague, how these effects will evolve over time, and how to best develop the city to meet these challenges.

Innovation

IPR Prague received the Esri President’s Award, the company’s most prestigious

honor, for its work with geoinformation systems. IPR Prague was recognized

primarily for its use of GIS in urban planning. Thanks to the institute’s geoportal

and applications such as the digital zoning plan, the heat map of Prague, and

technical infrastructure drawings, among others, the City of Prague can develop

systematically and efficiently. This data is used for city planning, but also, for

example, for the Integrated Rescue System.

GIS provides a way to visualize—and therefore contextualize—these statistics.

Demographics and other human population data become layers on a smart map.

The layers can be set against environmental features of the city, offering graphic

representation of how the city and its populations interact.

Sustainability

The plan is to update the index every few years to see how the situation has

changed. The GSI tools are not static. They will improve over time. The third tier of Prague’s climate strategy will involve adding even more data sources, working in conjunction with the country’s ministry of the environment. The databases related to environmental indicators will be combined and managed as one big project.

Replicability and/or up-scaling

Heat-Health Action Plan is easy to up-scale and replicate as there is a model for it created by EuroHEAT project.

Contact details

The Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR Prague)

Vyšehradská 2077/57, 128 00 Praha 2 ‒ Nové Město

international@ipr.praha.eu

https://iprpraha.cz/en/

Related Web site(s)

https://iprpraha.cz/page/3415

https://www.esri.com/en-us/about/about-esri/europe/case-studies/czech-republic-case-study

Related resources that have been developed

https://www.geoportalpraha.cz/en