‘Climate change risk responses in East African cities: need, barriers and opportunities’, current opinion in Environmental Sustainability

‘Climate change risk responses in East African cities: need, barriers and opportunities’, current opinion in Environmental Sustainability 3(3): 176-180. Argues that in the time of climate change robust urban planning is needed for cities in East Africa to ensure they deliver economic growth and adequate services with ever expanding populations. To mitigate the risks from climate change it is necessary to integrate adaptation policies into city planning. However, other studies (i.e. IDRC, 2011) highlight a lack of integration as a policy gap in consideration of the links between urban development and climate change.
Introduction
The intensity of future climate change impacts is likely to increase current vulnerabilities and further reduce existing adaptive capacities in major urban areas of East Africa. The current urbanisation of poverty in the region has caused huge intra-urban social inequalities, and presents an enormous challenge for these cities to become economic growth engines in a global network of cities, capable of delivering adequate services and quality of life for their rapidly growing population.
View this paper on Science Direct: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343510001417