Seoul
South Korea
Seoul faces a future where heavy rainfall events are expected to increase, resulting in heightened flooding risks. In response, the city has developed and is implementing technology-enabled climate resilience solutions. These include integrated sensor networks for enhanced planning and monitoring, as well as early warning systems and alerts for various threats such as heat, wildfires, poor air quality, and floods. These current and proposed initiatives seek to improve community safety by providing timely information and fostering awareness among residents. By combining mitigation and adaptation strategies, Seoul aims to build a robust framework for resilience against the impacts of extreme weather in the future.
Hazard Outlook
How will Seoul's projected climate hazards compare to other cities under a 3.0°C future warming scenario?
Maximum Rainfall
Seoul's projected maximum rainfall of 24 mm is among the highest of all cities globally.
Longest Heatwave
Seoul may experience heatwaves lasting up to 6 days, higher than most other cities.
Heavy Rainfall Days
With 10 days of heavy rainfall expected, Seoul ranks higher than most cities for extreme precipitation events.
Elevation
At 80 m elevation, Seoul faces elevated risk from coastal flooding and sea level rise.
Maximum Temperature
Seoul's projected maximum temperature of 8.6°C is near the median of cities globally under a 3.0°C warming scenario.
Exposure Summary
Adaptation Priorities
Seoul faces high exposure to max rain and elevated exposure to heatwave, heavy rain, elevation. These areas may warrant priority attention in adaptation planning.
Data source: Climate projections from the IPCC AR6 scenario analysis. See our methodology for details on how we process and interpret this data.
Deployed Solutions
Deployed climate adaptation technologies identified in Seoul.
Recommended Solutions
Proven solutions from similar cities that could help diversify Seoul's resilience portfolio
Cost of Doing Nothing Assessment Toolbox for Municipal Climate Decisions
76%Vancouver's Climate Change Adaptation Strategy includes an action to generate localized cost-implication estimates from inaction on climate adaptation, using ICLEI's Cost of Doing Nothing toolbox for municipal governments.
HAZUR® Urban Risk Assessment and Resilience Planning Methodology
75%The HAZUR® methodology represents a structured, qualitative risk assessment framework designed to evaluate interconnected urban services and infrastructures within cities, identifying risks, assessing cascading impacts, and establishing priorities for improvement.
Interactive Heat Relief Mapping Platform
75%The City of Paris provides an interactive map on its website annually to help users identify optimal locations for heat relief.
RESCCUE Urban Water Resilience Methodology
75%Barcelona performed a comprehensive resilience diagnosis using the RESCCUE methodology and tools to assess climate change impacts on the city's water services.
RESCCUE Web-Based Urban Resilience Modeling Platform
75%The RESCCUE Toolkit represents a comprehensive web-based platform developed through a four-year European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation project that ran from May 2016 to October 2020.