Governing Urban Climate Resilience (UCR): Systems, Agents, and Institutions in Shanghai, China
1. Introduction
Intending to contribute to the literature, and framed through the lens of resilience governance, this research investigates the dynamic relationship between the threat of climate-related risks, especially extreme weather events, and the process of planning and policy formulation and their implementation at the local level. With Shanghai, China, as a case study, this research designed the analysis of planning and policy documents and the narratives of key actors to examine how cities organize their responses based on the general resilience of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) in response to specific hazard types. This research may offer insights into the facilitators and barriers within local UCR governance processes, potentially guiding urban decision-makers in addressing similar types of climate threats. The following questions were conducted in this research:
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Where do climate shocks and pressures manifest in urban systems?
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Who is involved in coping with climate resilience planning and policy?
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In what way are the urban resilience elements organized in the context of climate resilience?
The remainder of this paper is structured into eight sections. The initial section delineates the theoretical framework underpinning this research. Subsequently, the second section provides an overview of the foundational background and outlines the methodology employed in the case study. The third section categorizes the principal types of climate risks under consideration. The subsequent three sections explore the dynamics and characteristics of climate resilience governance in Shanghai, examining the roles of systems, agents, and institutions in detail. Ultimately, the paper concludes by examining the implications of the findings and suggesting avenues for further research.
2. Theoretical Bias and Analysis Dimensions
2.1. Components and Principles of UCR
2.2. Framework for UCR Governance
3. Study Area: Shanghai, China
With respect to planning and policy, the “Shanghai 2035” plan, unveiled in 2017, aims to transform Shanghai into “a city of green and resilience”. This strategic vision prioritizes mitigating the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, extreme weather events, and the urban heat island effect. Furthermore, under the guidance and encouragement of the central government, Shanghai has distinguished itself as one of the select cities in China to independently formulate and execute a comprehensive action program for climate change adaptation.
4. Materials and Methods
4.1. Document Selection: Planning and Policy
4.2. Mixed Methods: Textual Analysis and Semi-Structured Interviews
5. Results
The results first delineate the climate shocks and pressures prevalent in Shanghai, then explore the categories and characteristics of systems and agents, and finally emphasize institutions’ role in linking them.
5.1. Climate Shocks and Pressures
5.1.1. Flooding
The analysis of planning and policy texts and the insights from interviewees substantiate the recognition of flooding as a significant climate risk in Shanghai. Flooding demonstrates a higher degree of consistency across both policy and planning. The complexity of flooding stems from various factors: high-density construction and sprawling urbanization, coupled with the centralization of infrastructure, exacerbate the flooding risk.
5.1.2. Extreme Heat
5.2. Elements of Governance
We conduct our governance components analysis using a phased approach. Initially, we described the composition and resilience characteristics of systems and agents. Subsequently, we evaluated the mechanism of institutions. Findings indicate that the regional government system and the Water Affairs Bureau (WAB) are central to the governance process. Shanghai has more robustly addressed flooding than extreme heat.
5.2.1. Systems: Critical Functions Keep Running
Strategies for governing flood risks are notably more extensive than those dedicated to extreme heat. Flooding involves 161 strategies, compared to a mere 48 for extreme heat. Furthermore, flooding strategies encompass urban architecture and transportation systems. In contrast, only limited strategies tackle extreme heat. Most measures addressing urban heat are supplementary to, or derivatives of, comprehensive DRR actions. These include enhancing the level of water infrastructures and bolstering real-time weather monitoring and communication.
Policy-based strategies account for 61.2%, while planning-based strategies comprise 38.8%. Regional management, infrastructure, community cooperation, urban architecture, health and wellness, urban energy, and transportation systems are related to policy. Conversely, in ecological environment systems, strategies are more spatially oriented and implemented through planning, for instance, by constructing urban waterfront green corridors and advancing 3D greening projects.
5.2.2. Agents: Leading Sectors Organize Actions
The agents focus differently on concerns about two climate risks, showing a higher priority for addressing flooding in strategy than extreme heat. The WAB is the lead agency for flooding issues control, supported by the HURCMC in planning design and the MB in weather information. However, the MB contributes significantly in extreme heat, with the other agents primarily addressing spin-off issues, such as water supply shortages from drought. For flooding, most government departments focus on policy-driven governance; only the HURCMC, EEB, PNRB, and LCAAB adopt planning approaches more.
Similarly, the agents dealing with extreme heat primarily rely on policy. Notably, the agents of extreme heat exclude the involvement of the LCAAB and the TC. Nevertheless, it includes the DRC, an agent not engaged in flooding, implying that extreme heat strategies align with carbon mitigation.
5.2.3. Institutions: Distinctions between Risks
As a conventional risk, flooding is almost addressed by systematic institutional tools. Key among these are the development of flood control and drainage infrastructure, the revolution of Sponge Cities, and the restoration of river and lake systems. These three approaches represent a long-term commitment to implementing flood-related plans and policies. The Flood Control and Drainage Infrastructure Project (FCDIP) aligns the city’s embankment standards with the consensus on climate change trends, utilizing digital monitoring and simulations to identify gaps and water-prone areas. Sponge City’s efforts aim to mitigate the disruption of the hydrological cycle caused by new town construction, employing nationally standardized guidance for this purpose. The WAB leads both tools, enhancing the infrastructure’s robustness, redundancy, and environmental performance. Meanwhile, river and lake system restoration, an extension of the Sponge City principles, is spearheaded by the EEB, leveraging the ecological function of the ecosystem.
Other thematic strategies primarily concentrate on policy aspects, including lifeline projects, emergency response team building, and regional protection scheduling. In particular, the policy appeals to flood risk assessment and mapping. Conversely, the planning fails to publish a publicly accessible flood-prone map.
While extreme heat represents an emerging risk, the droughts induced by heat accumulation have been a historical disaster. Shanghai performs lifeline maintenance actions for extreme heat in both planning and policy. The WAB is instrumental in securing the water supply system, while the EIC oversees the regulation of the power system, especially during peak demand periods. These approaches demonstrate enhanced system flexibility, bolstering the agents’ efficiency. Other aspects of the planning dimension, including urban breezeway design, three-dimensional (3D) greening, and solar roof initiatives, are experimental and pilot in nature. The general governance process for extreme heat has not yet successfully integrated these measures.
6. Discussion
Our analysis indicates that Shanghai increasingly acknowledges the profound impacts of climate-induced disasters, notably flooding and extreme heat. Accordingly, the city integrates DRR and CCA into planning and policy. In the governance of urban climate resilience, the social dimension’s subsystems play a pivotal role, encompassing regional governance, emergency response mechanisms, and community cooperation. These are closely followed by the ecological dimension’s subsystems, which include ecosystems and urban energy infrastructures. Conversely, the economic, technological, and spatial dimensions are interwoven with the social and ecological dimensions, serving as instrumental means to enhance resilience governance.
Nevertheless, significant opportunities for advancement remain, particularly in addressing the increasing severity and frequency of extreme heat, engaging a broader range of actors in decision-making, and improving consistent strategies across multilevel plans and policies. Urban planning plays a secondary and limited role, as seen in the level of consistency and engagement of plans. Firstly, the construction plan infrequently translates the strategies outlined in the comprehensive plan. Secondly, departments associated with planning, specifically the PNRB and the HURCMC, do not play a dominant position in the governance process. Our discussion focuses on the priorities of climate risk response, the distribution of agent power, and the potential capacity of urban planning to explain the reasons for the abovementioned results.
6.1. Flooding and Extreme Heat: Identify Processes and Characteristics of Different Risk Types
Governance for extreme heat primarily aligns with the broader goals of the city. Despite particular concern from government officials (S1, S3, S4) and professionals (S6, S7, S8), the undervaluation of extreme heat results in existing strategies primarily as by-products of other objectives (e.g., carbon neutrality). An inadequate understanding of extreme heat hampers resilience governance compared to flood governance, undermining general climate resilience.
Nonetheless, we contend that synergistic governance across climate risks indicates that responses to one type of risk, including BGI, digital rapid response, and regional resource linkages, can enhance resilience against various risks. Strategies enhancing general climate resilience must be identified and prioritized for implementation.
6.2. Systems and Agents: Clarify Departmental Responsibilities and Empower Self-Governance
On the other hand, the MB significantly impacts the governance of extreme heat with meteorological observation and warning capabilities. The primary emphasis of these strategies is keeping citizens informed of weather dynamics changes, demonstrating the systems’ efficiency. However, governance reliant on the timely dissemination of meteorological information remains basic, failing to catalyze a governance transformation and inadequately addressing future climate change risks. Therefore, introducing authoritative entities to spearhead extreme heat risk governance is essential.
6.3. Planning and Policy: Discover Opportunities for Urban Planning
6.4. Limitations
7. Conclusions
This study examines the current status and barriers to climate resilience governance within China’s coastal megacities, focusing specifically on Shanghai’s policies and planning for climate resilience. Our study shows that Shanghai actively integrates climate resilience into its current urban governance system. This case is particularly intriguing due to Shanghai’s high climate vulnerability despite its abundant physical and social resources. Although a social consensus exists to enhance climate resilience, Shanghai lacks a specialized plan or policy to integrate DRR and CCA strategies—making general climate resilience governance a piecemeal rather than a dedicated or mainstream approach.
The case of Shanghai reveals marked disparities in the governance processes for climate risks, with hydrological disasters (exemplified by floods) and extreme temperature events (illustrated by extreme heat) being managed differently. The primary resilience systems involve regional management, constituting 36.8% of governance strategies, and infrastructure, accounting for 26.8% of these strategies. Key institutions in climate resilience governance include the Water Affairs Bureau and the Meteorological Bureau, with 30.6% of strategies for the former and 15.7% for the latter. The WAB aims to enhance robustness (19.2% of resilience characteristics) and integration (14.9% of resilience characteristics) in flood and drought management through regional and infrastructure systems. Simultaneously, the MB improves flexibility and efficiency, employing digital technology to address extreme heat.
This study posits that variations in resilience governance mechanisms and depth across climate risks primarily stem from the inherent characteristics of climate hazards and public perceptions. Historically, floods inflict observable damage, whereas heat disasters, traditionally less noticeable, are increasingly acknowledged due to climate change. Insights from flood management could inform broader climate resilience strategies, including those for high temperatures. Furthermore, it is observed that Shanghai’s government-directed climate governance prioritizes preparatory actions. Effective management of disaster response and recovery phases may require engaging grassroots autonomy more extensively.
Another lesson to be learned is that the progression of Shanghai’s climate planning, from a comprehensive approach to more specialized construction planning, indicates a potential reduction in strategic depth, likely attributable to the limited governance role of the planning department (with only 6.4% of governance strategies involving this department). Notably, policies advocate for integrating climate risk into national spatial planning, underscoring the need for enhanced planning department engagement in climate resilience governance. This is especially crucial for tackling emerging risks like extreme temperatures, where the share of strategies focused on managing extreme heat is merely 42.5% of those for flood management, indicating a governmental-driven push for planning to assume a more significant role in climate resilience governance.
In light of the intensifying impacts of global climate change, the imperative for building resilience to climate risks in urban areas is growing more urgent. A phased approach involving dedication followed by mainstreaming could be advantageous when designing governance processes for comparable cities. This approach entails delineating clear responsibilities of governments, allocating resources to leading agents, and augmenting the system’s general climate resilience capacity.
Author Contributions
Writing—original draft, methodology, visualization, C.L.; writing—review and editing, investigation, H.Y.; funding acquisition, supervision, Q.Y.; validation, resources, N.A.; supervision, H.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This research was funded by Humanities and Social Science Foundation for Ministry of Education, Youth project, China, grant number 23YJCZH275; Art Science Planning Foundation of Shanghai, China, grant number YB2022-G-088.
Institutional Review Board Statement
The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Tongji University Science and Technology Ethics Committee.
Informed Consent Statement
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Data Availability Statement
Data is contained within the article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Appendix A
Table A1.
The planning list relates to the climate resilience of Shanghai.
Table A1.
The planning list relates to the climate resilience of Shanghai.
Plan Type | Plan Name | Year |
---|---|---|
comprehensive plan | Shanghai City Comprehensive Plan (2017–2035) | 2018 |
Yangtze River Delta Ecological Green Integrated Development Demonstration Zone Land and Space Comprehensive Plan (2021–2035) | 2023 | |
specialized plan | Shanghai Metropolitan Area Collaborative Space Planning (2035–2050) | 2022 |
Shanghai Comprehensive Disaster Prevention and Reduction Plan (2022–2035) | 2022 | |
Shanghai Sponge City Special Planning (2016–2035) | 2016 | |
Shanghai Flood Control and Waterlogging Planning (2020–2035) | 2021 | |
Shanghai Urban Rainwater Drainage Planning (2020–2035) | 2020 | |
Special planning for slow traffic space connection in the outer ring green belt and areas along the line | 2022 | |
Special planning for dikes and ecological landscapes on both sides of the Huangpu River (middle and upper reaches) | 2022 | |
construction plan | Construction plan for areas along the Huangpu River (2018–2035) | 2020 |
Construction planning for areas along the Suzhou River (2018–2035) | 2020 | |
Sponge City construction planning for different administrative districts in Shanghai | – |
Table A2.
The policy list contains climate resilience of Shanghai.
Table A2.
The policy list contains climate resilience of Shanghai.
Policy Type | Policy Subtype | Policy Name | Year |
---|---|---|---|
guiding policy | 14th five-year plan | Shanghai’s “14th Five-Year Plan” for Water System Management | 2021 |
Shanghai’s Marine “14th Five-Year Plan” | 2021 | ||
Shanghai Meteorological Service Guarantee “14th Five-Year Plan” | 2021 | ||
Shanghai Emergency Management “14th Five-Year Plan” | 2021 | ||
Shanghai’s “14th Five-Year Plan” for the development of “Huangpu River” and “Suzhou River” | 2021 | ||
Shanghai’s “14th Five-Year Plan” for ecological and environmental protection | 2021 | ||
implementation/action plan | Smart Water and Marine Three-Year Action Plan (2022–2024) | 2022 | |
Shanghai’s three-year action plan for ecological environment protection and construction from 2021 to 2023 | 2021 | ||
Shanghai’s “14th Five-Year Plan” Urban Drainage and Flood Prevention System Construction Action Plan | 2022 | ||
Shanghai Carbon Peak Implementation Plan | 2022 | ||
Shanghai Action Plan for Adapting to Climate Change (2023–2035) | 2023 | ||
emergency plan | Shanghai Water Affairs Bureau Flood and Drought Disaster Prevention Emergency Plan | 2022 | |
legal policy | government directive | Shanghai Meteorological Disaster Prevention Measures | 2022 |
Appendix B
Table A3.
Questions of the semi-structured interviews.
Table A3.
Questions of the semi-structured interviews.
No. | Questions |
---|---|
1. | What do you think does Shanghai face the main types of climate risks? Any representative examples? Any representative examples? |
2. | What is your role in managing climate risks? |
3. | Which government agencies or other organizations are involved in the governance of climate risks? |
4. | What climate disaster events in Shanghai have deeply impacted you in the past five years? |
5. | Do you know which groups in Shanghai are adversely affected by climate disaster events? |
6. | What is the current model or process for managing climate risks in Shanghai? |
7. | In your opinion, what are the main barriers to enhancing climate resilience in Shanghai? |
8. | Can you share your organization’s experiences facing climate risks in Shanghai? |
9. | Do you have any good suggestions for enhancing climate resilience in Shanghai? |
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Figure 1.
Conceptual framework for urban climate resilience (UCR). Some principles are relevant to multiple stages of the process. However, we have assigned them to a specific stage according to their primary contribution.
Figure 1.
Conceptual framework for urban climate resilience (UCR). Some principles are relevant to multiple stages of the process. However, we have assigned them to a specific stage according to their primary contribution.
Figure 3.
Distribution of administrative divisions and meteorological and hydrological stations in Shanghai, China.
Figure 3.
Distribution of administrative divisions and meteorological and hydrological stations in Shanghai, China.
Figure 4.
The frequency of system components in flooding and extreme heat.
Figure 4.
The frequency of system components in flooding and extreme heat.
Figure 5.
Resilience characteristics in urban systems.
Figure 5.
Resilience characteristics in urban systems.
Figure 6.
The frequency of agent components in flooding and extreme heat.
Figure 6.
The frequency of agent components in flooding and extreme heat.
Figure 7.
Resilience characteristics in governing agents.
Figure 7.
Resilience characteristics in governing agents.
Figure 8.
Strategy Transmission in Shanghai’s Climate Resilience Governance.
Figure 8.
Strategy Transmission in Shanghai’s Climate Resilience Governance.
Mean values and trends of meteorological elements/climate risk in Shanghai [60] (“↑” means rise, “↓” implies fall).
Meteorological Elements/Climate Risk | 1993–2022 (30-Year) Average | Trend (/10 Years) | |
---|---|---|---|
average temperature (°C) | 17.4 | ↑0.415 | |
annual precipitation (mm) | 1308.3 | ↑157.8 | |
sea level height (mm) | 135.5 | ↑13.749 | |
hurricane | days (d) | 3.0 | ↑0.932 |
maximum single-day average wind speed (knots) | 27.4 | ↑0.012 | |
storm | days (d) | 3.7 | ↑0.237 |
maximum single-day precipitation (mm) | 101.6 | ↑16.274 | |
extreme heat | days (d) | 19.0 | ↑7.244 |
maximum temperature extremes (°C) | 37.7 | ↑0.568 | |
extreme cold | days (d) | 26.4 | ↓3.317 |
minimum temperature extremes (°C) | −4.8 | ↓0.099 |
Table 2.
Interviewees by critical functions.
Table 2.
Interviewees by critical functions.
Categories | Number | Interviewees | Field |
---|---|---|---|
Government officers | 4 | S1: Expert, the Meteorological Bureau | Meteorological Technology |
S2: Officer, the Ecology and Environment Bureau | Environmental Protection | ||
S3: Senior Officer, the Planning and Natural Resources Bureau | Urban Construction and Management | ||
S4: Officer, the Emergency Management Bureau | Disaster Preparedness | ||
Urban planners | 2 | S5: Planner, the Municipal Design Institute | Water Conservancy Engineering |
S6: Senior Planner, the urban planning and design company | Urban Spatial Plan | ||
Other stakeholders | 2 | S7: Urban Planning Professor, a local university | Academic Research |
S8: Expert, the Urban and Transportation Development Institute | Resilience-related Study |
Table 3.
Categories of climate shocks and pressures in planning and policy (warmer colors indicate a higher proportion of the same type of plan or policy).
Table 3.
Categories of climate shocks and pressures in planning and policy (warmer colors indicate a higher proportion of the same type of plan or policy).
Climate Disasters | Planning | Policy | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time | Causes | Codes | Comprehensive Plan (n = 2) | Specialized Plan (n = 7) | Construction Plan (n = 3) | 14th Five-Year Plan 1 (n = 6) | Implementation/ Action Plan (n = 5) |
Emergency Plan (n = 1) | Government Directive (n = 1) |
Acute | Meteorology | Typhoon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
Rainstorm | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
Storm surge | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | ||
Strong wind | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
Thunder | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
Hail | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
Temperature | Extreme Heat | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Extreme Cold | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
Heavy fog | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
Drought | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
Hydrology | Flooding | 2 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | |
Chronic | Sea-level rise | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
Subsidence | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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