Amsterdam & Rotterdam: Understanding differences in climate change adaptation A comparative study from a coevolution perspective of water related climate change in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Course: Bachelor Thesis Project Human Geography and Urban Planning Code: 734301500Y Coordinators: A. Verzijl MSc. A. Zegwaard, PhD, MSc. Second assessor: Dr. M.A. Bontje Name: Anneke Faber Email: [email protected] Address: Burgemeester D. Kooimanweg 549 1444 BP Purmerend Telephone: 06-22280022 Student number: 10768769 Date: 15th of January 2018 Preface In front of you lies the thesis ‘Understanding the differences in climate change adaptation: A comparative study from a coevolution perspective of water-related climate change adaptation in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the Netherlands. This thesis has been written to fulfil the graduation requirements of the Bachelor Human Geography and Urban Planning at the University of Amsterdam. I have conducted this research for the period from September 2017 to January 2018. Before starting my thesis I took a major in water and disaster management at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. It was there I realised I wanted to conduct further research on water-related climate change effects. Being home in the Netherlands again, I signed up for the thesis group Climate Change Adaptation in Deltas. Supervisors for this project were PhD, MSc. A. Zegwaard and MSc. A. Verzijl. I teamed up with the former and formulated my research questions. The research process itself was interesting and inspiring, but also difficult because climate change adaptation seems to be a pretty new theme on the local, national and global agenda. I would like to thank my supervisor for the exceptional guidance and support during this research. I also want to thank all of the respondents, without whose cooperation I would have not been able to conduct the analysis. The special help from respondents that came in the form of books, articles, and discussions: I found your thoughts and contributions indispensable. Also, many thanks to my family, partner, and friends. Whenever I was lost in all the interesting information, countless books and articles, you were there to guide me through and kept having faith in me. “It always seems impossible until it’s done”. Nelson Mandela I hope you enjoy reading this thesis. Anneke Faber Purmerend, 15th of January 2018 2 Source: Waternet 2016 Table of contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 4 1.1. The Netherlands ...................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2. Two cities – context ............................................................................................................................................... 6 1.3. Outline ......................................................................................................................................................................... 7 2. Theoretical and conceptual framework ....................................................................... 9 2.1. Complexity Theory and Coevolution .............................................................................................................. 9 3. Research design and methodologies .......................................................................... 12 3.1. Research questions and concepts ................................................................................................................. 12 3.1.1. Concepts ............................................................................................................................................................... 12 3.2. Research design .................................................................................................................................................... 15 3.2.1. Case study ............................................................................................................................................................. 15 3.2.2. Methods and data collection ........................................................................................................................ 15 3.3. Context .................................................................................................................................................................... 17 3.3.1. Context of Rotterdam ...................................................................................................................................... 17 3.3.2. Context of Amsterdam ................................................................................................................................... 18 4. Results and analysis ................................................................................................... 21 4.1. Rotterdam ............................................................................................................................................................... 21 4.1.1. Singelplan Willem Nicolaas Rose 1841 ................................................................................................... 21 4.1.2. The Bombardement of Rotterdam WOII ............................................................................................... 22 4.1.3. Architecture Biennial 2005 ......................................................................................................................... 24 4.2. Water-related climate adaptation strategies in Rotterdam .............................................................. 27 4.2.1. Rising sea level and increasing river discharge ................................................................................. 27 4.2.2. More intense and frequent precipitation and increased ground water tables .................... 28 4.3. Amsterdam ............................................................................................................................................................. 32 4.3.2. The canals of Amsterdam ............................................................................................................................. 32 4.3.4. The cloudburst of 28th July of 2014 ........................................................................................................ 34 4.4. Water-related climate adaptation strategies in Amsterdam ........................................................... 35 4.4.1. More intense and frequent precipitation ............................................................................................... 36 5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 39 6. Discussion and reflection ........................................................................................... 42 References ....................................................................................................................... 43 Appendices ...................................................................................................................... 48 Appendix 1 – List of respondents .............................................................................................................................. 48 3 1. Introduction According to NASA (2017) there is scientific consensus about the fact climate change trends over the past century are very likely a consequence of human activities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2014 p. 2) states: “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level”. It may become clear that changes in climate due to human activities have a major influence on our daily environment. The consequences of global climate change are as the word already tells us, global. It is an urgent global challenge, which is implicated in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals presented the United Nations (2015). Climate change has long-term implications for the sustainable development of all countries on every continent. One of the major consequences of global climate change are more extreme weather events like: extreme cold events; extreme heat events; droughts; extreme rainfall; extreme snow and ice storms; tropical cyclones; wildfires; and severe convective storms (United States National Academies of Sciences 2016). Despite proven changes in the global climate, the impacts of climate change are engrained with uncertainties about speed, degree, direction and spatial patterning of potential change (Goudie, 2013). According to Leiserowitz & Howe (2015) worldwide 40% of the adults have never heard of climate change. The US National Academies of Sciences (2016) states this lack of awareness might have something to do with the fluctuations in daily and seasonable weather and that these fluctuations can mask the changes in the overall climate trends. Climate change is thus a global issue that has different implications on the Earth’s atmosphere partly as a result of human induced processes. It may become clear there are considerable differences in the kind of consequences of climate change and that these consequences have different local implications. Goudie (2013) describes there is a difference between the implications for people living in urban areas and people