This study develops a high-resolution pluvial flood risk index by integrating hazard modeling, exposure assessment, and social vulnerability analysis within the IPCC risk framework, and applies it to Hamburg, Northern Germany as a case study. The hazard component is based on a 100-year rainfall event (36 mm/h), modeled using a hydrodynamic flood simulation that accounts for topography, drainage capacity, and land use. Exposure differentiates between mobility-related risks and well-being-related risks, while social vulnerability is quantified using socioeconomic indicators such as age, income, and education status.The results highlight risk hotspots where social vulnerability and flood exposure overlap, providing decision-makers with valuable insights for targeted interventions. The study reveals that social vulnerability does not correlate directly with flood hazard, emphasizing the complexity of urban flood risk. This underscores the need for a holistic approach to risk assessment, integrating climate science, infrastructure planning, and social policies to enhance urban resilience. The methodology developed in this study is transferable to other urban areas, making it a valuable tool for climate adaptation planning and risk-informed decision-making.
Urban Pluvial Flood Risk Mapping: A High-Resolution Assessment for the City of Hamburg
FAIR Implementation Profile (FIP)for the case study 3 and the software developed to create Risk Map for the Hamburg city area.
Case Study 3 - Hamburg Risk Map Software FIP
Research Object gathering all information about the first workshop for the City of Hamburg FAIR2Adapt Case Study.
Case study Workshop - 4th March 2025, Hamburg, Germany
# City of Hamburg ### Climate-induced stressors and their effects on urban societies ## Vision & Ambitions The purpose of this case study is to: 1) Examine climate-induced stressors and their effects on urban societies; 2) Integrate socio-economic data on vulnerability and exposure of urban population with physical climate hazard data to explore future climate risks of the city of Hamburg and to inform sustainable climate change adaptation strategies. ## Description ### Urban climate risk assessments (Hamburg, Germany) Hamburg, a city with various climate-related risks, needs to adapt to climate change in a systematic, sustainable and cross-sectoral approach. At the organisational level, the interaction between administration and public companies is crucial for implementing adaptation strategies and consideration of the interactions between the various actors and sectors of the urban system, which is a prerequisite for sustainable adaptation planning. In addition, adaptation and mitigation must be weighed against each other to assess trade-offs and avoid incompatibilities (e.g., urban densification versus adaptation to climate-induced stressors), requiring tailored state-of-the-art climate and adaptation scenarios (e.g., Representative Concentration Pathways RCPs and Shared Socioeconomic Pathways SSPs). Adaptation at the city scale requires very fine-scaled (high-resolution) data. Granulated data on exposure and vulnerability of urban sectors, infrastructure and population as well as data on climate-induced stressors is managed by different city authorities under the Hamburg City Senate, and not always publicly available. Understanding climate risks and barriers to adaptation at urban scale requires a concerted effort across city authorities for data curation and sharing. Data related to climate-induced stressors are often not updated or do not utilise European or global data portals (e.g. Copernicus). So far 572 datasets (e.g., on green spaces, city trees, population data, infrastructure data, building characteristics, soil properties, noise levels, air pollution, weather station data) from different sources or authorities is gathered in a data portal (Geoportal Hamburg), containing metadata and maps in pdf format. Hamburg’s adaptation portals are referenced in Climate-ADAPT but only in terms of qualitative information. ## FAIR2Adapt Contribution FAIRification of available data to enable a more transparent, user-friendly and up-to-date data portal for adaptation decision-making. Provenance information and semantic crosswalks between climate and cross-sectoral data will help in the integration of data. ## Lead Partner UHAM ## External Stakeholders involved in CCA Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Senate Chancellery
Nüske, Lale Mae, Malte von Szombathely, Anne Fouilloux, and Barbara Magagna. "City of Hamburg." ROHub. Mar 08 ,2025. https://w3id.org/ro-id/b60db721-7a5f-4f82-a7fa-6b2b587a4119.
Folder containing links to Research Objects created during Case study workshops.
The FAIR2Adapt community is dedicated to advancing climate change adaptation in Europe by promoting FAIR and open data sharing to enhance the accessibility, interoperability, and usability of environmental and socio-economic data in support of climate change adaptation efforts.
Data related to climate-induced stressors are often not updated or do not utilise European or global data portals (e.g. Copernicus). So far 572 datasets (e.g., on green spaces, city trees, population data, infrastructure data, building characteristics, soil properties, noise levels, air pollution, weather station data) from different sources or authorities is gathered in a data portal (Geoportal Hamburg), containing metadata and maps in pdf format.
Granulated data on exposure and vulnerability of urban sectors, infrastructure and population as well as data on climate-induced stressors is managed by different city authorities under the Hamburg City Senate, and not always publicly available.
2) Integrate socio-economic data on vulnerability and exposure of urban population with physical climate hazard data to explore future climate risks of the city of Hamburg and to inform sustainable climate change adaptation strategies.