Increasing Urban Resilience

The concept of mainstreaming climate change adaptation to foster sustainable urban development and resilience is receiving increasing interest. It is widely advocated by both academic and governmental bodies. Adaptation mainstreaming is the inclusion of climate risk considerations in sector policy and practice. It is motivated by the need to challenge common ideas, attitudes, or activities and change dominant paradigms at multiple levels of governance. The process works toward sustainability and resilience by expanding the focus - from preventing or resisting disasters and hazards - to a broader systems framework in which we learn to live and cope with an ever-changing, and sometimes risky, environment. It thus addresses the root causes of risk and failed approaches to sustainable development. 

This lecture provides an introduction to the field of disaster risk management and how it is linked to the issues of climate change adaptation and urban resilience. It presents the origins of the mainstreaming concept, current theories, and their application in urban planning practice. The importance of combining different approaches to reduce risk with complementary strategies to mainstream climate change adaptation into municipal planning and governance is highlighted. In this context, the increasing role of creating city-citizen collaborations is highlighted.