Abstract
Climate change and accelerated urbanization have posed severe challenges to urban development, resulting in a growing series of climate and environmental problems that have a significant impact on industrial production and urban life. In a developing country such as China, more than 57% of the population lives in urban areas. It is vital for these cities to adapt to climate-induced risks. A better understanding of how to improve adaptive capacity could enhance the ability to achieve a desirable state when the city experiences stress. This paper used an integrated approach for evaluating the urban adaptive capacity to climate change. It developed the evaluation index system of urban adaptive capacity (UAC) based on the driver–pressure–state–impact–response model (DPSIR), and adopted grey relational analysis (GRA) and the entropy method to analyze the level of UAC in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province, from 2006 to 2015. The results revealed that the UAC of Changsha showed a significant increase from 2006 to 2015. Among the five first-grade indicators, the response dimension had the greatest influence on the improvement of UAC. The study may provide suggestions for adaptive capacity building and sustainable development in other urban areas.
Highlights
Climate change and accelerated urbanization have posed severe challenges to urban development, resulting in a growing series of climate and environmental problems that have significant impacts on industrial production and urban life
The Response dimension was the most important factor influencing the overall level of adaptive capacity, accounting for 38% of the total impact, and was the most important factor influencing development of the urban adaptive capacity (UAC)
The results showed that Changsha city had made an improvement in enhancing its urban adaptive capacity
Summary
Climate change and accelerated urbanization have posed severe challenges to urban development, resulting in a growing series of climate and environmental problems that have significant impacts on industrial production and urban life. In a developing country such as China, 57.35% of the population lives in urban areas. The concentration of human, financial and manufactured capital makes cities especially vulnerable to climate change [2,3]. Due to their heavy reliance on lifeline systems such as transportation and water supply and power systems, cities are threatened by climate change [4]. Climate change could exert pressure on existing problems in urban areas. High population density increases urban demand for water, leading to water stress, especially in the period of drought. A better understanding of how to improve adaptive capacity could enhance the ability to achieve a desirable state when a city experiences climate stress
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