Climate adaptation of interconnected infrastructures: a framework for supporting governance
Name
10113_2013_Article_428.pdf
Size
1.07 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
607ad65d392cd9b80fb7ce82ab3c0e37
Author(s)
Snelder, M.
van Thienen, P.
de Wit, S.
Wols, B.
Bollinger, L. A.
Bogmans, C. W. J.
Chappin, E. J. L.
Dijkema, G. P. J.
Huibregtse, J. N.
Tavasszy, L. A.
Date Issued
March 2013
Journal
Regional Environmental Change
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Citation
Bollinger, L. A. et al. “Climate Adaptation of Interconnected Infrastructures: A Framework for Supporting Governance.” Regional Environmental Change (2013): n. pag.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Infrastructures are critical for human society, but vulnerable to climate change. The current body of research on infrastructure adaptation does not adequately account for the interconnectedness of infrastructures, both internally and with one another. We take a step toward addressing this gap through the introduction of a framework for infrastructure adaptation that conceptualizes infrastructures as complex socio-technical “systems of systems” embedded in a changing natural environment. We demonstrate the use of this framework by structuring potential climate change impacts and identifying adaptation options for a preliminary set of cases—road, electricity and drinking water infrastructures. By helping to clarify the relationships between impacts at different levels, we find that the framework facilitates the identification of key nodes in the web of possible impacts and helps in the identification of particularly nocuous weather conditions. We also explore how the framework may be applied more comprehensively to facilitate adaptation governance. We suggest that it may help to ensure that the mental models of stakeholders and the quantitative models of researchers incorporate the essential aspects of interacting climate and infrastructure systems. Further research is necessary to test the framework in these contexts and to determine when and where its application may be most beneficial.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-013-0428-4
