Research note: Climate change, peri-urban space and emerging infectious disease

Abstract

There is a growing need to (1) better understand spaces in which human-animal interactions occur in ways that increase the risk of emerging infectious disease (EID), and (2) identify the opportunities for mitigating EID risk available to urban planning. Peri-urban areas—which are typically under-governed, undergoing significant environmental change and highly susceptible to zoonotic disease transfer--are especially important in this regard. In this research note, we briefly explore how climate change is contributing to both peri-urbanization and EID risk. First, climate change is linked to the displacement of people and other species into peri-urban areas, thereby increasing opportunities for zoonotic disease transfer. Second, whether coastal or inland, peri-urban space, characterized by low resources and inadequate services, is also typically vulnerable to mounting climate impacts including severe weather events, sea level rise, flooding, erosion, drought, salinization and heat waves that create socio-ecological conditions amenable to EID outbreaks. These relationships are particularly alarming given that peri-urban environments abut urban areas creating numerous pathways for the movement of EIDs into larger populations. In this research note, we briefly explore these relationships and illustrate them with a causal loop diagram of climate change-peri-urban displacement-EID interactions based on field work in Malawi. We conclude by emphasizing the need for improved EID risk management and suggest that bringing together the environmental expertise of the conservation community with that of planners through a more convivial urbanism that draws on the concept of working landscape conservation might be a beneficial approach.