Climate Change, Disaster Risk, and the Urban Poor by
Poor people living in slums are at particularly high risk from the impacts of climate change and natural hazards. They live on the most vulnerable lands within cities, typically areas that are deemed undesirable by others and are thus affordable. Residents are exposed to the impacts of landslides, sea-level rise, flooding, and other hazards. Exposure to risk is exacerbated by overcrowded living conditions, lack of adequate infrastructure and services, unsafe housing, inadequate nutrition, and poor health. These conditions can turn a natural hazard or change in climate into a disaster, and result in the loss of basic services, damage or destruction to homes, loss of livelihoods, malnutrition, disease, disability, and loss of life. This study analyzes the key challenges facing the urban poor given the risks associated with climate change and disasters, particularly with regard to the delivery of basic services, and identifies strategies and financing opportunities for addressing these risks. Several key findings emerge from the study and provide guidance for addressing risk:* The urban poor are on the front line. The poor are particularly vulnerable to climate change and natural hazards due to where they live within cities, and the lack of reliable basic services.* City governments are the drivers for addressing risks. Local governments play a vital role in providing basic services which are critical to improving the resilience of the urban poor. * City officials build resilience by mainstreaming risk reduction into urban management. Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction can be best addressed and sustained over time through integration with existing urban planning and management practices.* Significant financial support is needed. Local governments need to leverage existing and new resources to meet the shortfalls in service delivery and basic infrastructure adaptation.
Green Cities by
" What is a green city? What does it mean to say that San Francisco or Vancouver is more ""green"" than Houston or Beijing? When does urban growth lower environmental quality, and when does it yield environmental gains? How can cities deal with the environmental challenges posed by growth? These are the questions Matthew Kahn takes on in this smart and engaging book. Written in a lively, accessible style, Green Cities takes the reader on a tour of the extensive economic literature on the environmental consequences of urban growth. Kahn starts with an exploration of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC)--the hypothesis that the relationship between environmental quality and per capita income follows a bell-shaped curve. He then analyzes several critiques of the EKC and discusses the implications of growth in urban population and surface area, as well as income. The concluding chapter addresses the role of cities in promoting climate change and asks how cities in turn are likely to be affected by this trend. As Kahn points out, although economics is known as the ""dismal science,"" economists are often quite optimistic about the relationship between urban development and the environment. In contrast, many ecologists and environmentalists remain wary of the environmental consequences of free-market growth. Rather than try to settle this dispute, this book conveys the excitement of an ongoing debate. Green Cities does not provide easy answers complex dilemmas. It does something more important--it provides the tools readers need to analyze these issues on their own. "
Sustainable Urbanism in Developing Countries by
The mushrooming of illegal housing on the periphery of cities is one of the main consequences of rapid urbanisation associated with social and environmental problems in the developing countries. Sustainable Urbanism in Developing Countries discusses the linkage between urbanism and sustainability and how sustainable urbanism can be implemented to overcome the problems of housing and living conditions in urban areas. Through case studies from India, Indonesia, China, etc., using advanced GIS techniques, this book analyses several planning and design criteria to solve the physical, social, and economic problems of urbanisation and refers to urban planning as an effective measure to protect and promote the cultural characteristics of specific locations in these developing countries. FEATURES Investigates an interdisciplinary approach to urbanism, including urban ecology, ecosystem services, sustainable landscapes, and advanced geographical systems Analyses unique case studies of rapid urbanisation from a local to a national scale in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, China, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia and their global impact Examines the use of GIS and spatial statistics in analysing urban sprawl and the massive amount of data gathered by every operational activity of municipalities Focuses on the holistic perspective of sustainable urbanism and the harmony in the human-nature relationship to achieve sustainable development Covers a wide range of issues manifested in urban areas with economic, societal, and environmental implications contributed by leading scholars from the Global South
