Climate Action Programme lecture March 2023

"An integrated approach to Sponge Cities: Water management and beyond"
Climate change is increasingly challenging existing urban systems. In many cities, the current capacity of urban water management systems to remove rainwater is insufficient to deal with extreme rainfall events that occur as a consequence of climate change. At the same time, climate change causes drought during increasingly long hot periods, resulting in declining groundwater tables that threaten building foundations. The Sponge Cities approach responds to this challenge by providing the capacity to store water when available (keeping the sponge dry enough) and release water when needed (keeping the sponge wet enough). An integrated approach to Sponge Cities goes beyond water management to enable the realisation of sustainable urban spaces that restore and preserve the health and well-being of humans and ecosystems in the face of amplifying socio-ecological challenges.

Juliana Goncalves
Dr. Juliana Goncalves is an Assistant Professor in the section of Spatial Planning and Strategy, Department of Urbanism, TU Delft. She has a diverse background with expertise in socio-technical systems, urban data science, and policy analysis. Her research interests include urban inequalities & spatial justice; climate change adaptation & urban resilience; just energy transition; housing & buildings; public participation & citizen empowerment; and related planning and policy implications. She looks at these questions from a socio-spatial perspective, often combining quantitative and qualitative research methods.

"Why engineers should cooperate with spatial designers…"
The presentation elaborates on the spatial dimension of water infrastructures. Several cases – from theoretical perspectives to designs interventions – are debated to show how flood protection systems affect the way urban areas and landscapes are organized; and the other way around.

Luca Iuorio
Luca graduated in architecture at Iuav University of Venice, where he also did his doctorate in urbanism. His academic work spans from the study of the territorial dimension of engineering infrastructures to the design of spatial interventions to adapt to climate change. He is interested in understanding and explaining how technology affects our society and shapes the places where we live. Currently he is assistant professor at the Technische Universiteit in Delft, department of Urbanism.