eesIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental ScienceIOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.1755-13071755-1315IOP PublishingEES_1101_2_02202410.1088/1755-1315/1101/2/022024E11012024PaperDigitalization of climate adaptation planning: the potential of simulation software tools for landscape designKeibachE1ShayestehH1H.Shayesteh@mdx.ac.uk Department of Design Engineering and Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Middlesex University London, Hendon Campus, London NW4 4BT, UK 011120220111202211012022024Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd2022 Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.Abstract

Climate change plays a significant role in the landscape architecture discipline seeking to solve the problems related to floods and heatwaves. Climate adaptation planning deals with a high level of uncertainty while precipitating future climate events to prepare adaptable landscape designs. However, digital technologies are rarely implemented into landscape design projects with deep environmental concerns. Meanwhile, digital tools have the potential to improve climate adaptation planning while calculating and simulating the adaptive capacity of design. Therefore, this research investigates the capabilities and limitations of software tools suitable for climate adaptation projects. The software tools are evaluated using the ISO 25010 framework comparing their capabilities. The main method used for this research is based on objective experiments while implementing different software tools to conceptual landscape design on a case study project. The experiment revealed that the implementation process deals with many limitations including interoperability and data loss. Moreover, this research conducted in-depth interviews with project stakeholders including planners and clients to identify their problems, needs and expectations regarding software tools. Finally, the roadmap on the software selection resulting from this research provides the guidelines on how to select the most suitable tool for various climate adaptation projects.