Towards Drought-Sensitive Cities

In increasingly dryer and hotter conditions cities need to adapt in the (near) future. To design drought-sensitive cities much can be learned from the program of water-sensitive cities. In this program a research center was established, policy-implications have been derived and the findings were applied in many local projects. A drought-sensitive program should link research, governance, and practice. Moreover, to fully integrate drought conditions in the development of our cities, the future dryer conditions should be anticipated, embraced and, if possible reversed. This needs to be done by connecting long-term visions with short-term interventions and to integrate spatial projects at the regional and larger scale with hyperlocal spatial transformations, which are visible for urban residents and make a difference for their daily livability.