How to Plan Climate-Adaptive Cities: An Experimental Approach to Address Ecosystem Service Loss in Ordinary Planning Processes

Global climate change, combined with socio-economic issues such as conflicts, inflation, energy crises, and inequality, is reshaping urban governance. Cities, which host most of the global population, are highly exposed to climate-related risks, especially those associated with the degradation of ecosystem services. These risks are manifested, among other factors, as the alteration and degradation of the habitat quality, heightened hydraulic vulnerability, and intensified urban heat islands phenomena. Addressing these challenges requires innovative planning tools to integrate ecosystem-based strategies to enhance urban resilience and support sustainable transformation processes. This paper attempts to do this by introducing ecosystem zoning, an experimental tool designed to integrate ecosystem services into urban planning and its regulatory framework. Applied to the city of Torino, this approach offers a biophysical classification of municipal territory through a mapping of habitat quality, cooling capacity, carbon sequestration, and stormwater retention. The resulting classification provides an overview of the different ecosystem characterizations of the urban fabric and informs site-specific interventions to maintain or enhance ecosystem services and guide urban regeneration processes. By embedding ecosystem services into planning regulations, the project supports sustainable urban development while mitigating climate impacts. The proposed tool contributes to the broader discourse on creating resilient, ecologically sustainable cities and demonstrates the potential of integrating scientific research into urban decision-making processes.