Urban design adapted to climate change with PALM-4U

“The summer of 2022 in Germany was the sunniest, the 6th driest and one of the four warmest on record,” reported the German Weather Service (DWD). In Europe alone, it caused over 60,000 heat-related deaths. In view of rising temperatures, it is crucial that towns and cities take measures to adapt to the consequences of climate change in order to become more resilient. This is the only way to reduce the impact of urban heat on the health of inhabitants.

Evidence-based planning of adaptation measures, such as green spaces, fresh air corridors, sunshading, etc., can lower inner city temperatures, improve the urban climate and therefore prevent deaths. We can provide experts around the world with the tools they need to design urban areas in line with climate change.

Urban climate simulations with the PALM-4U model enable municipal employees and urban planners to identify stress points with pinpoint accuracy and to calculate the impact of adaptation measures even before they are implemented. The effectiveness and cost-benefit ratio of the measures can thus be optimized.

This simulation model is already freely available as an open source solution. Based on this, we offer a user-friendly user interface, the PALM-4U GUI. As part of a co-creation process, this was regularly tested together with municipal users during its development and implemented by them to deal with typical urban climate issues. It is therefore optimized for easy use by urban planning experts.

Would you like to find out more about the possibilities of our GUI and other urban planning services adapted to climate change? We have prepared information for you in various videos and infographics..