Case studies

After a deadly 2010 heatwave, Ahmedabad built the template now replicated across India

Impact: An estimated 1,190 fewer all-cause deaths per year after implementation (2018 study); the model has been scaled to more than 40 Indian cities.

Amsterdam embedded climate adaptation into neighbourhood renewal, creating resilient public spaces that serve residents year-round

Impact: 120 climate-adaptive interventions completed; 40,000 m² of green roofs; water storage increased by 2.2 million litres in pilot districts

Treating heatwaves like named storms to make an invisible killer visible

Impact: Appointed Europe's first Chief Heat Officer (2021) and piloted the world's first heatwave categorisation-and-naming system; the role has since been adopted by cities on several continents.

Landscape architecture that collects, treats, and holds stormwater by gravity

Impact: Chulalongkorn Centenary Park (45,000 m²) can retain up to roughly 1 million gallons of stormwater, easing flood risk in a low-lying, subsiding city.

Reorganising the grid into car-light 'superilles' to cut pollution, heat, and noise

Impact: In the Sant Antoni superblock, NO₂ fell roughly 25% and through-traffic dropped sharply within a year; the city plans a wider network of superblocks and green axes.

How Bogotá embedded climate resilience into a city-wide equity agenda, reaching 1.2 million low-income residents

Impact: 120,000 trees planted in lowest-income localities; 18% reduction in heat-related hospital admissions in target zones

Cape Town avoided complete reservoir failure in 2018 and built the water resilience infrastructure to survive future droughts

Impact: Per-capita water consumption reduced by 50%; groundwater augmentation scheme adds 40 Ml/day to supply

Copenhagen's decade-long push for carbon neutrality — a blueprint integrating transport, energy, and urban form

Impact: 67% CO2 reduction since 2005; 62% of trips made by bicycle; district heating covers 98% of households

Dhaka is restoring urban wetlands and canals to buffer 21 million people against intensifying monsoon floods

Impact: 48 km of canals restored; 3,200 hectares of urban wetlands protected; flood peak reduced by 28% in pilot catchments

A pay-to-grow model that plants, tracks, and pays for a million trees

Impact: On track to plant one million trees by 2024 with an 80%+ survival rate, financed through a tokenised 'pay-to-grow' tracking platform; a 2023 Earthshot Prize finalist.

Lagos is investing in early warning systems, mangrove restoration, and elevated infrastructure to protect 15 million coastal residents

Impact: 50 km of mangrove restoration protecting 400,000 coastal residents; early warning system reaches 2.1 million

30 interconnected green corridors reduced Medellín's hottest streets by 3°C in under three years

Impact: 3°C average temperature reduction on corridor streets; 36,000 new trees; 2.4 million annual corridor users

Melbourne's Urban Forest Strategy became a global model for city greening — and sparked a worldwide conversation about tree equity

Impact: Canopy cover increased from 22% to 29% since 2012; 70,000 new trees; the 'tree email' moment sparked global debate

The world's largest residential rainwater-harvesting program confronts subsidence and scarcity

Impact: Cosecha de Lluvia installed 62,700+ residential rainwater-harvesting systems by 2023 — the world's largest such program — as the city battles land subsidence of up to 50 cm per year.

Miami committed $4 billion to raise streets, improve drainage, and protect communities from inevitable sea level rise

Impact: $4B committed; 100 pump stations installed; Brickell neighbourhood street elevation by 1.5 feet completed

The world's hottest large city built the most comprehensive heat emergency system in North America

Impact: Cooling centre network served 47,000 people in 2023 heatwave; heat-related mortality reduced 22% in enrolled zip codes

Rotterdam turned its below-sea-level geography from a liability into a global design and innovation advantage

Impact: 100% of new development meets 100mm/hr rainfall standard; Benthemplein water square stores 1.7 million litres

How Singapore deployed data-driven greening, cool materials, and urban design to tame a tropical urban heat island

Impact: UHI intensity reduced by 0.6°C in intervention zones; 47% of city covered by greenery; 130 km of park connectors

Tokyo cut its urban heat island intensity by 1.1°C over 20 years through a mandated, data-driven approach to urban greening and cool surfaces

Impact: UHI intensity reduced by 1.1°C; 1,200 ha of green roofs mandated; summer peak electricity demand reduced by 1.2 GW

North America's first green-roof mandate — and a cautionary tale about policy durability

Impact: The first North American green-roof mandate (2009) drove 1,200+ green roofs and roughly 111,400 m² of new green roof area; the provincial government repealed the bylaw in 2025.

Mist stations, cool zones, and thousands of new trees across a compact city

Impact: 150+ cooling measures — 22 cool zones, ~100 mist stations, and up to ~4,500 trees planted per year; street trees cut daytime air temperatures by up to 1.2 °C (over 2 °C in shade).

A flood-prone megacity retrofits parks, roads, and rooftops to soak up the rain

Impact: One of China's first 16 national sponge-city pilots; 389 sponge projects were built in 2015–2017 targeting 70% annual rainwater retention across pilot districts.