Can ‘poor’ cities breathe: Responses to climate change in low-income countries

Abstract

Cities, especially in the poor countries, are competing with one another to generate higher growth. Such competition makes everything including the environment subservient to ‘technology’. As a consequence, they are faced with extreme weather events and are therefore important in the context of responding to climate change. They are increasingly being recognised as having unique climate risks and specific vulnerabilities due to higher concentration of people and activities. Adaptation seems to be indispensable though mitigation still will help avoiding future impacts. Urban authorities in poor countries encounter specific realities, such as occupancy in low-lying, often flood-prone, coastal locations that lack adequate protection in addition to possible vector-borne infections. In this backdrop, this paper analyzes specific factors likely to shape climate change responses of urban authorities in poorer countries who have to find ways to tackle impacts of climate change in tune to their specific institutional and social contexts and compulsions.