Wind disasters adaptation in cities in a changing climate: A systematic review

adaptation research. We paid special attention to climate change to examine whether it has been incorporated into wind disaster adaptation studies. We find that wind adaptation studies experienced fluctuated growth in the past decade. Cit- ies located in North America, East Asia, and South Asia are more often targeted in this field. This is probably due to the high concentrations of developed economies in these regions [201]. Also, they are associated with more diversified topics and adaptation measures. The literature most frequently mentioned NYC and New Orleans because they have experienced Hurricane Sandy [30] and Hurricane Katrina [202] respectively. It indicates that cities once suffered from deadly or costly wind disasters are more likely to become the objects of adaptation research. The four major aspects covered by the studies are 1) the vulnerability and resilience of cities, 2) evaluations on damages, 3) response to disasters and recovery processes, and 4) health impacts of wind disasters. The necessity of studying natural hazards in the background of cli- mate change has been recognized [203]. In this study, climate change is especially embedded in the first two aspects. It appears among the key root words in the largest topic set, along with coastal vulnerability and adaptation. This demonstrates that current research has noticed the impact of future climate change on urban vulnerability since it is an external stressor that enhances the destructive power of wind disasters. Cities located in coastal areas are of special

concern because they are at the forefront of many hydrometeorological climatic hazards. Cli- mate change could interact with urbanization processes and wind disaster climatology; thus, climate scenario is necessary for models which will allow scientists to obtain more accurate assessments on urban exposure and future damages. Wind disasters such as hurricanes cause abrupt consequences. But the impacts of climate change can be distant and moderate. More- over, the latter often exacerbates before people realize them. In this case, adaptation measures will both defend short-term disasters and take precautions against long-term changes in a more sustainable approach. Structural and physical adaptation measures are the most covered measures (181) in selected papers, followed by social measures (160) and institutional measures (88). We found distinct differences in the number of different adaptation subcategories. 101 measures are technological innovations, but only 12 measures are laws and regulations. Adaptation subcate- gories show diverse proportion distributions in cities in different regions. In general, scientists prefer measures that are more easily achieved through technological development, informa- tional systems, and government policies and programs. The latest study by Du et al. shows that a combination of hard measures and soft measures can significantly reduce risks and improve economic efficiency [204]. Though current studies present bias towards hard measures, the hybrid development of both measures is taking shape. This calls for more attention to soft

measures such as the making of laws and regulations. Only 11.8% of the literature concentrates on the health impacts of wind disasters in this dataset. It is much less when compared to the literature discussing physical damages. This reveals the limited attention that is paid to health issues. Meanwhile, their discussions also lack links to climate change. Climate change is viewed as “the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century” by Lancet [205]. Incorporating it into wind adaptation not only makes causes of negative health impacts more comprehensive but also generates co-benefits by finding com- mon solutions. Health adaptation to climate change is expected to be part of national plans in the future [206]. This potentially promotes wind adaptation even if a city has yet to realize that health problems that can stem from wind disasters. Wind disasters, especially tropical storms, have attracted much attention. These disasters, along with their secondary hazards, are damaging urban systems such as the traffic system. Cit- ies rely on all kinds of indices to evaluate their vulnerability and to identify the most demand- ing sectors. They have also noticed the necessity to include climate change while doing the PLOS ONE Review on wind adaptation in cities PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248503 March 17, 2021 15 / 26