Climate change is a global problem but shaped by local factors that affect which resilience solutions will be most effective. Arup has developed a number of digital tools that can help authorities to understand and model the contextual risks cities face, whether that’s the growing issue of urban heat islands or how to naturally manage increasing flood risks.

Sponge cities

Our Global Sponge Cities snapshot uses our land use analysis tool Terrain, to assess how well a city can deal with flooding. It analyses large volumes of satellite imagery using machine learning, to identify blue and green surfaces alongside soil type and vegetation before calculating the rainfall runoff absorption potential. By combining water sensitive urban design, natural solutions and integrated flood control planning we help shape more resilient, climate responsive and ‘porous’ cities. This combination of digital-plus-natural underlies the ‘sponge city’ approach. 

Learn more about sponge cities.

Learn more about how we use geospatial insights and Earth observation to help clients invest in resilient solutions.