The Unexplored Field of Urban Services in the Context of Climate Change Adaptation. Potential Transitions

Building on the principles exposed in previous chapters, this chapter discusses the role of the urban services sector in adaptation processes. Many soft measures adopted by cities rely on urban services. This chapter proposes the research hypothesis according to which the reorganization of services at the municipal scale would provide a key contribution and support to cities’ adaptation to climate change already in the short term and through relatively low investments; furthermore, optimizing the management and the operation of these services would return as co-benefit improved urban comfort and attractiveness. The design of new models for the delivery and the operation of urban services, aimed at improving climate resilience, based on the optimal exploitation and management of information, represents an important and innovative research line. The proposal of a new terminology, “Adaptation services”, to identify the contribution of urban services in adaptation processes, requires a redefinition effort. At present, there are neither universally accepted and shared definitions of urban services categories, nor an available clear delineation of different and interlinked types of services. The new taxonomy is complemented by the development of a novel analytical framework for investigating potential transitions towards integrated systems of Adaptation services.