Opportunistic Adaptation (ePub)

Polpat Nil-u-bon from Thailand has a university degree in Architecture (2008, B.Arch.) from Rajamangala University of Technology (RMUTT), Thailand and two Master degrees in Architectural and Environmental Technology (2010) from Chulalongkorn University (CU), Thailand and in Architecture and Urban Design from The Berlage Institute and TU Delft, the Netherlands (2013).

After graduation in 2008, he worked for three years at HASSELL in Thailand, before entering The Berlage Institute. In 2011 he got a scholarship for Master degree and Ph.D. study in Architecture and Urbanism at The Berlage Institute and IHE Delft by RMUTT.

Currently, he is a full-time Ph.D. research fellow of Flood Resilience Group (started, 2014), Water Science & Engineering (WSE) at IHE Delft: Institute for Water Education, the Netherlands. The title of his research is "Opportunistic Adaptation (OA): Using the Urban Renewal Cycle to Adapt to Climate Change". The research project is funded by RMUTT.

This research reveals that a long-term, strategic approach to climate adaptation of cities is needed. This strategy should be based on an understanding of the urban dynamics and on the flood risk of an urban area. An OA approach, such as developed and demonstrated in this research, is required to take advantage of the adaptation potential of an urban area and to maximize the associated multiple benefits of adaptation interventions. Adaptation pathways seem to be well suited for this purpose given the support expressed by the stakeholders during interactive sessions demonstrating the OA approach in a real-life context.