Willingness to Pay for Climate Adaptation

There is increasing global awareness that, despite efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation to climate change is necessary. Additional stresses related to climate change, including rises in sea level, river flooding, urban heat islands, and extreme rainfall and drought, present an emerging challenge for public urban infrastructure. Local governments are required to facilitate additional investments in climate-proof public infrastructure strategies, such as permeable pavements, separation of storm water and sewage, strategic application of greenspace and trees, water storage and retention, and improved draining and grading plans. In times of fiscal stress, however, any new infrastructural investment poses a substantial financial challenge for municipalities. Though there is quite some evidence of the positive impact of climate change adaptation on property values, which undoubtedly benefits real estate developers’ business cases, not much is known yet about real estate developers’ willingness to contribute to these public infrastructure investments. This study aims to fill that gap, by a comparative case study of three cities that are, through their location in coastal zones, vulnerable to climate risk and in need of climate adaptation measures, respectively the contiguous cities of Charleston, North Charleston, and Mount Pleasant (South Carolina, Unites States), the Liverpool City Region (United Kingdom) and the City of Rotterdam (the Netherlands). The case studies analyze both the current role of land value capture (LVC) and real estate developer contributions in inclusive urban climate adaptation strategies, and the prospective role LVC may play, if favorable conditions for developers to contribute can be established.