Context and objective of the project

 In recent years, the effects of climate change have been more and more brought into the focus of spatial planning. For instance, the Stuttgart Region in southwest Germany has contributed to the pilot scheme KlimaMORO which collects data on the vulnerability of ecosystems, the water sector and the thermal stress caused by climate change. The results have been integrated into the Stuttgart Climate Information System which processes climate-related data by means of a geographical information system (GIS).

However, the KlimaMORO scheme did not analyze the climate-related vulnerability of critical infrastructure, although infrastructures play a key role to maintain economic and social processes particularly in metropolitan areas such as the Stuttgart Region. The project conducted by the KIT's Institute of Urban and Rural Planning and Institute of Regional Science aims at analysing the vulnerability of critical infrastructures. Promoted by the Landesanstalt für Umwelt, Messungen und Naturschutz Baden-Württemberg (regional office for environment, measurement and nature conservation of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg), the project should contribute to advance the country-wide climate change adaptation strategy.  Based on the Stuttgart Climate Information System, a GIS-based information tool for the adaptation of critical infrastructure to climate change is currently developed.