Climate Change Risk Assessment: A Holistic Multi-Stakeholder Methodology For The Sustainable Development Of Cities

Cities are at risk due to global climate change, increasing both the frequency and the intensity of storms and extreme precipitation, sea-level rise, and other extreme weather events. Disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate change should include a holistic and multi-scale perspective, to address the challenges of sustainable urban development and the conservation of the cultural value of our cities. In this research, an integral multistakeholder methodological approach is presented for risk assessment, supported by a data-collection and analysis strategy and a multi-scale urban model based on CityGML. A method of sampling buildings is presented together with the necessary data analysis, in order to perform the analysis at city scale. The methodology is implemented in DonostiaSan Sebasti ' an (northern Spain), a city located alongside a river estuary on the coastline. A sample of 2262 buildings are analyzed with varied characteristics at risk of extreme precipitation and/or storm surges and sea-level rise. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the methodology at generating a unique risk index through a balance between the resources for data collection and the accuracy of the results, supported by a graphical 3D representation to facilitate results interpretation, and the subsequent evidence-based decision-making for prioritizing sustainable interventions.