Ex-anteImpact Assessment of Urban Interventions: The Sustainability Check at the Example of the City of Bottrop, Germany

The effects of climate change and associated extreme weather events such as heat, storms and heavy rainfall lead to considerable damage to property and personal injury worldwide. To counteract the causes and consequences of climate change, many states, regions and cities worldwide declared the status of climate emergency in 2019. As a result, scientists and urban planners intensified their efforts to develop appropriate mechanisms and measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change and its consequences. This paper presents an informal systematic and user-driven governance instrument, which examines the ecological, social and economic effects of urban interventions – the ‘Sustainability Check’. As a target-based assessment tool, it provides decision-makers with information about the extent to which a planned intervention corresponds with future-oriented urban development. The check results from the research project ZUKUR (‘Future of the Urban Region Ruhr’), in which researchers and practitioners from the City of Bottrop (Germany) worked together in a real-world laboratory. The Sustainability Check is novel because it combines elements of an impact assessment tailored to user needs and links sustainable urban development goals with resilient and environmentally just urban development at the local level. Based on the first application, we conclude that the Sustainability Check significantly contributes to developing a future-oriented city. Adapted to the local and context-specific needs of a city, it offers systematic consideration of the requirements of sustainable, resilient and environmentally just urban development in an efficient manner and at the early-stage.