SUPERVISOR: Karl HOGL

PROJECT ASSIGNED TO: Haximilian MUHR

Due to climate change, heat waves in the city of Vienna continue to increase in frequency and intensity (APCC 2018). Marginalized social groups, such as people with a lower socio-economic background, with a migration background, residents with disabilities or elderly residents, are particularly vulnerable to urban heat (Arnberger et al. 2021; Wanka et al. 2014). Many of the proposed measures in adaptation to heat waves rely on technical solutions, such as fog showers or building refurbishment, and nature-based solutions (NbS), such as green roofs and facade greening. Further measures aim at informing citizens about their individual opportunities for adaptation, e.g., ventilating their homes, observing cooling diets, or changing their daily routines.

However, adaptation is neither a merely technical problem nor can it be addressed on an individual level only (Adger et al. 2009; Aldrich et al. 2016). Central to this dissertation project is the notion of climate change adaptation as a socio-cultural process determined by collective action and influenced by local institutions and communities (Agrawal 2008; Wolf 2011). The project scrutinizes how this process unfolds in the city of Vienna, with specific emphases on heat waves and vulnerable groups. This includes identifying the most affected groups in the city of Vienna, defining vulnerabilities to heat stress as well as to the potential adverse effects of adaptation measures, and analyzing adaptation strategies at individual and group levels. The guiding research questions of this cumulative dissertation project are:

1. How can vulnerable groups in Vienna adapt to urban heat waves?

  1.1. What is the role of different types of social capital in adaptation to heat waves in Vienna?
  1.2. How do vulnerable groups in Vienna perceive, experience, and cope with urban heat waves?
  1.3. How can planning processes of heat-related nature-based solutions in the city of Vienna include considerations            of justice?

The theoretical framework of the project is informed by the discourses on climate change adaptation, vulnerability, social capital, and environmental justice. Adaptive capacity is positively correlated with social capital because it is strongly influenced by communities’ and societies’ ability to act collectively (Aldrich et al. 2016; IPCC 2022). Eric Klinenberg’s (2015) analysis of the 1995 heat wave in Chicago suggests that immense differences in mortality rates between adjacent neighborhoods could be traced back to different types of social capital. Based on semi-structured qualitative interviews and walking interviews with vulnerable residents, the role of social capital in adaptation to heat waves in the city of Vienna will be elaborated. Walking interviews allow researchers to gain more dynamic and unexpected insights into social situations, physical environments and local knowledge, and are particularly suitable for research on social capital (Carpiano 2009; Lager et al. 2015). The interview data will be complemented with measures to foster social capital co-developed with vulnerable groups in two participatory citizen workshops on urban heat.

NbS planning and implementation processes often ignore questions of social equality (Kabisch et al. 2016) and can even exacerbate social inequalities through green gentrification or other displacement dynamics (Checker 2011; Meishar 2018). Consequently, the question of justice is highly relevant because it reflects how the output and outcome of current adaptation policy processes affect different forms of vulnerability in urban areas. Nancy Fraser (2013) defines justice as participatory parity and identifies three dimensions of justice: the economic, cultural, and political dimensions. This dissertation project focusses on the political dimension, specifically the participation of vulnerable groups in planning processes of NbS to urban heat. A case study analysis of completed participatory NbS in the city of Vienna will be conducted regarding the integration of vulnerable groups, based on expert interviews with planners and local policymakers, semi-structured qualitative interviews with residents involved in the planning processes, as well as document analyses. A procedural-participatory planning exercise (Carr 2013) with vulnerable groups will be conducted, resulting in recommendations that could be integrated into the planning and implementation of future NbS.

The cumulative dissertation project is connected to the research projects “COOL down: The role of social capital in enhancing adaptation to extreme heat events in the city of Vienna” (COOLCITY) and “Nature-based solutions to urban heat islands and their impacts on social equality” (UrbanHeatEquality) (both at Institute of Forest, Environmental and Natural Resource Policy; project lead: Dr. Patrick Scherhaufer). The research questions are addressed in exchange and collaboration with non-academic stakeholders, i.e., decision makers within the city administration, representatives of the vulnerable groups, and organizations from relevant sectors, such as social work, health, and housing. Such a transdisciplinary research approach facilitates knowledge integration and contributes to the quality, legitimacy and acceptance of the results (Lang et al. 2012; Schmidt et al. 2020).

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