Jena lays the foundation for effective climate adaptation with a new urban climate concept

More hot days, longer periods of heat and increasing drought are just some of the consequences of climate change, which - as in many other cities - has also been clearly noticeable in Jena for years. The issue of heat in the city and health care is becoming increasingly important, particularly in view of the growing proportion of older people. This presents the city with the challenge of taking adaptation to climate change into account in municipal action.

Since 2009, Jena has been one of the first cities in Germany to devote itself intensively to this topic and has launched the Jena Climate Adaptation Strategy (JenKAS), a long-term decision-making aid for overcoming the challenges of climate change and climate impact adaptation. In 2013, the city council adopted JenKAS as a guideline for action.

The new "Urban Climate Concept for the City of Jena" now represents a further milestone for the topics of heat load and ventilation. This should enable Jena to remain an attractive place to live and work in the future despite the challenges of climate change. The administration developed the specialist concept together with Geo-Net Umweltconsulting GmbH from Hanover between 2021 and 2024 and is now submitting it to the municipal bodies for approval.

"The urban climate concept identifies areas that are crucial for the ventilation and cold air supply of our city, but also shows where the structural development of the regional center - especially for the provision of living space - is still possible," says Christian Gerlitz, Mayor and Head of Urban Development and Environment of the City of Jena.

Concrete information and decision-making aids for urban planning are now available on how important ventilation functions of the city can be maintained in future development projects.

Background

The urban climate concept pursues an in-depth assessment of Jena's climate-ecological functions. This is based on several spatially high-resolution climate model calculations for the entire urban area. In addition to the assessment of the existing situation, a possible climate development in the near future is also considered as a precautionary measure. Furthermore, the planned structural changes are focused on and the development areas of the land use plan (FNP) are evaluated with regard to their urban climate compatibility.

"As a result, the expert determined that all FNP development areas can generally be built on in a way that is compatible with the urban climate, taking into account climate-adapted construction methods," says Gerlitz.

The climatic planning information map is the central result of the urban climate concept. It provides recommendations for planning from an urban climatological perspective and serves as a basis for taking climatic concerns into account in planning processes.

"The next steps involve anchoring the findings and recommendations for action in planning law and implementing them," emphasizes Christian Gerlitz.

This is no easy task, as many of the urban heat islands are located in densely built-up areas, often in private hands and therefore not within the direct sphere of influence of municipal action. Other municipalities have issued local guidelines or building regulations, e.g. in the form of open space design statutes, to implement climate adaptation measures in existing areas. This is now also being examined for Jena.

"In addition, we are providing incentives for citizens to implement climate adaptation measures on their own initiative and thus actively contribute to improving the city's climate," adds Mayor Gerlitz.

The city is therefore planning to continue and strengthen the existing municipal funding program "Green Oases in Jena". Tree planting, unsealing, roof and façade greening on private properties will be financially supported here.

The urban climate concept will be presented to the public on 13.11.2024 in the Climate Protection Advisory Board(link is external) and probably on 21.11.2024 in the Urban Development and Environment Committee.