A methodological proposal to design climate shelter systems: The role of social infrastructure in climate adaptation strategies

Abstract

As climate change increasingly exposes urban populations to extreme weather events, adaptation strategies go beyond physical interventions to address social vulnerabilities. This paper proposes a methodological framework for designing climate shelter systems that integrate social infrastructure into climate-responsive planning. Grounded in the concept of community resilience, the approach combines top-down and bottom-up strategies to identify, evaluate, and adapt existing public and social spaces for use as climate shelters. The methodology is applied to a case study in the Bonfim parish of Porto, Portugal; an area characterised by socio-economic deprivation, aging infrastructure, and climate vulnerability. The framework consists of two phases: criteriabased site selection (combining indicators and spatial analysis using GIS software) and participatory engagement (interviews with residents and stakeholders) to assess suitability, perceptions, and behavioural responses to climate events. Specifically, 32 interviews were conducted as part of the case study. The outcome is a multilayered shelter network encompassing outdoor, indoor, emergency, and vulnerable-group-specific spaces, tailored to the local context. The findings underscore the dual role of climate shelters as protective infrastructure and as catalysts for social cohesion, climate literacy and public engagement. The study emphasises the need to integrate climate adaptation into everyday urban practices and highlights the role of efficient governance, communication, and monitoring. By leveraging social infrastructure, climate shelters can evolve from emergency responses into long-term assets that strengthen adaptive capacity and promote climate justice. The proposed methodology is transferable across diverse urban contexts, with the necessary adjustments, offering practical guidance for cities aiming to operationalise equitable and inclusive climate adaptation strategies.