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URBAN

About Urban

  • “Climate change poses a series of interrelated challenges to the country’s most densely populated places: it's cities.” (NCA)
  • Highly urbanized, 80% of population live in metropolitan areas.
  • Dependant on infrastructure: often aging and in need of repair.
  • Cities have chances of being highly compromised due to climate change.
  • Large and growing populations are vulnerable to climate variability and change.
  • Depend on extensive infrastructure systems and resources supporting them; often connected to large system of rural areas large distances away → resources are far
  • Infrastructure includes systems and assets essential for national and economic security, national public health or safety and the wellbeing of residents
  • Energy, wastewater and water, transportation, public health, banking and finance, telecommunications, food and agriculture, information and tech, etc.
    Urbanization and infrastructure systems - the nation’s economy, security and culture all depend on the resilience of urban infrastructure.
  • Direct and interacting effects will expose people to multiple threats -- change affects the built, natural and social infrastructure of cities.
  • The vulnerability of urban dwellers multiplies when effects of climate change interact with preexisting stressors: deteriorating infrastructure, areas of intense poverty, high population density, etc.
    Three fundamental factors of urban systems, residents and infrastructure:
  • Cities are dynamic -- constantly rebuilt on cycles of innovation.
  • Infrastructure often exceeds design life but continues to age, resulting in increasingly fragile systems -- requires ongoing maintenance and investment.
  • Urban areas present lots of social change -- due to widely varying socioeconomic conditions and dynamic residence patterns in different parts of the city.
  • Vulnerability of populations depend on: exposure to particular stressors, sensitivity to impact and ability to adapt to changing conditions.
    Essential services are interdependent - change in one systems will almost always result in disruptions in one or more systems.
  • If infrastructure and other connections among source areas are disrupted by climate change the dependent urban areas will also be affected.
  • The economic base of an urban area depends on regional comparative advantage; if competitors, markets or trade flow is affected then so are particular urban areas.

    Resources:
  • UN.org
  • Impact of Climate Change on Urban Areas in India
  • Worldbank.org
  • Ucar.edu
  • Urban.ias.unu.edu
  • Globalchange.gov
  • Youthconnect.in
  • Interestingengineering.com