Urban Planning 2030 (UP2030)

An increasing number of European cities have made a commitment to achieve climate neutrality and to take action against the growing physical risks associated with climate change. However, these goals bring forth a multitude of challenges, particularly in terms of ensuring an equitable and sustainable transition. Additionally, the successful adoption and implementation of the necessary technology hinges on various factors, including supportive governance and policy frameworks, stakeholder engagement, and capacity building. In order to facilitate and guide the socio-technical transition in cities, the Urban Planning 2030 (UP 2030) project leverages urban planning and urban design solutions to foster climate-smart, net-zero emissions neighborhoods in eight pilot cities. The project focuses on five key areas, referred to as the "UPs," to assist cities in their progress:

• UP-dating (updating regulations),
• UP-skilling (enhancing qualifications through capacity building),
• UP-grading (improving through the development of solution prototypes),
• UP-scaling (expanding for city-wide impact), and
• UP-taking (sharing best practices with other European cities).

adelphi research significantly contributes to the project's UP-scaling component in two main ways. Firstly, it investigates different governance structures, offering valuable insights for policy and decision-making processes. Leveraging the expertise of a dedicated panel of experts assembled for this project, as well as the insights gained from other work packages, the project team will develop recommendations for cities aiming to align their governance and policies with the commitment to achieve climate neutrality. Secondly, data-driven typologies encompassing hundreds of European cities will be created. These typologies will be based on data related to climate, urbanisation, governance, socioeconomics, and greenhouse gas emissions. By identifying similarities among cities in terms of their challenges and the corresponding solution packages in urban planning and urban design, the typologies will highlight which cities can benefit from specific solution packages. This effort will culminate in the development of a platform that facilitates the scaling of solution packages, serving as one of the primary outcomes of the project.