Resilience Planning: Metamorphosis of the Zorrotzaurre Peninsula, Bilbao (Spain)

This chapter refers to the treatment of urban planning as a mechanism in the context of the resilience of cities to floods, the most common natural disaster caused by climate change. The focus of the research is the Zorrotzaurre peninsula in Bilbao, a city undergoing constant urban transformation and a significant industrial and tourist city in Spain. It is a peninsula that has been identified as a degraded industrial area, with a significant degree of contamination and which is subject to flooding. Relying on the research done within the master's thesis, this chapter will present a proposal for concrete urban regeneration—metamorphosis—of the peninsula mentioned above, to create a more flood-resistant place. In addition, through the urban regeneration of the Zorrotzaurre peninsula, the goal is to point out the importance of urban planning and urban architectural design in mitigating climate change. Several goals were set in the research: to understand the necessity of having a clearly defined action policy, clearly defined measures, adaptation, and mitigation strategies; to reduce the impact of climate change on the environment, that is, to increase the degree of resilience in architecture, infrastructure, and urban space, and, in the end, to contribute to increasing the degree of development of awareness of the importance of everything previously mentioned, and then to the definition of practical solutions, applicable not only in the area of Bilbao but also wider, bearing in mind, all specific territorial, social and economic aspects. Several methods were used in the work: after a theoretical review of the place that is the subject of research, the identification of specifics followed, and then practical guidelines were given for the urban regeneration—metamorphosis—of the same, all to create a more resilient place to live.