Safeguarding suburbia from a changing climate

Learning what needs to change to prepare neighbourhoods for future conditions.

86% of the UK’s population live in suburbs. But how can these neighbourhoods cope with the consequences of climate change, such as rising temperatures and increased flood risk?

The Suburban Neighbourhood Adaptation for a Changing Climate project aims to find out. Funded by the LWEC-accredited Adaptation and Resilience to a Changing Climate initiative, it’s homing in on six representative suburbs ranging from Stockport’s leafy Cheadle Hulme to the terraced houses of St Werburghs, Bristol.

“The project will show how we can help suburbs like St Werburghs remain pleasant places to live and work in the face of climate change”, says Lucy Darkin of Bristol City Council.   

    
Heat pumps, water collectors, external shading, raised building thresholds, ‘green’ and ‘blue’ infrastructure – these are some of the measures that could play an important role. But this project isn’t simply identifying potentially useful modifications to homes, gardens and neighbourhoods. It’s also pinpointing issues that will influence take-up, such as cost, visual impact, effect on house prices and lack of awareness.

Consultation with householders, local authorities, regulators, insurers, builders, architects and others involved in neighbourhood management is a key element in the initiative. So is learning from the USA, Australia and other countries where suburbs are already adapting to challenging climatic conditions.

“Suburbs have largely been overlooked in previous adaptation studies”, says Professor Katie Williams of the University of the West of England, who is leading this collaborative project with Oxford Brookes and Heriot-Watt Universities. “It’s already clear that equipping them to withstand climate change will require a gradual transformation and not just knee-jerk responses to extreme weather events.”