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Building Urban Resilience
C ities, best described as the beating hearts of a thriving civilisation are the engines for economic growth, the locus of development activities and the focus of major financial investments. The health of its cities has always been of prime importance for any human settlement and lays down the foundation for financial and social sustenance. Globally, cities are exposed to climate associated risks like never before.Impact of Climate Change in Cities Indian urban centres stand vulnerable to numerous climate risks whether direct due to their geographic location or induced. A typical urban centre stands to experience several direct and in-direct impacts due to climate change. Direct Impacts Increased incidences of heat waves: Increased temperatures coupled with urban heat island effect give rise to a localised phenomenon due to which, urban areas experience 2 to 60C warmer climatic conditions. With increased heat incidences, the residents of urban areas are more likely to experience heat exhaustion and heat strokes, which weakens the immune system and makes one susceptible to other diseases. Erratic
precipitation patterns: Unexpected changes in established rainfall
patterns result in occurrence of unexpected and heavy precipitation or
complete lack of the same. In cases of storms, floods, cyclones etc.,
the physical infrastructure of an urban area is at risk. Transportation
network, communication lines, water supply, drainage, sewage etc. stand
a chance to be impacted and disrupt the day to day life of an urban
dweller. Consequently with changes in the water cycle, water supply and
water quality in urban areas would be affected leading to further
increase in the existing issues being faced by Indian cities. Increased health incidences and disease epidemics: With the expected increase in temperatures and erratic precipitation patterns, there will be an increase in mosquito-borne diseases. This increase is primarily attributed to the fact that ideal conditions for mosquito breeding are generated due to the increase in wetter/ warmer periods and existence of water logged surfaces due to either lack of adequate rain water drainage systems in case of heavy rainfall or formation of puddles in rivers due to drought. In addition to this, higher temperatures reinforce the effect of pollution which in turn lead to an increase in respiratory diseases. Climatic factors coupled with lack of adequate sanitation and water supply infrastructure are also responsible for an increase in water and food-borne diseases like cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea, hepatitis and gastro-entitis. Rise in sea level: Despite being an impact which is limited to the coastal regions, rise in sea water levels stands to impact nearly 31 million people in India. With the increase in sea- levels, the residents of cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai are expected to experience increased incidences of flooding particularly during high-tides, salinisation of water sources and destruction of the delicate eco-systems associated with these regions. Residents of deltaic locations like Kolkata are likely to experience more floods both due to rise in sea water levels and due to more volume of water from glacier-fed rivers. Indirect Impacts Increase in vulnerability of the poorer sections of the society: As a consequence of direct climate change impacts, the existing urban poor population would be impacted more than the richer sections of the society. This may be attributed to the fact that poor areas lack or suffer from inadequacy of basic infrastructure services, live in crowded and cramped spaces which are often unhygienic and poorly sanitised in general. Changes in temperature and precipitation can spread diseases in previously unaffected areas and encourage it in areas already affected. Increase in migration from rural to urban areas: Another possible indirect impact of climate change would be increase in migration from rural to urban areas, due to agricultural distress. To gain a foothold in the urban areas, the migrant population are forced to live in substandard conditions that have little or no access to basic amenities and add to the vulnerable sections of the society. Building up the Resilience of Cities and its Inhabitants Given the scale of climate change associated impacts in the urban areas, there is an imminent need for India to focus on building resilient cities. The concept of a resilient city is not new. If one were to study the ancient civilisations, it would be realised that the planners of ancient cities like Mohenjodaro and Harappa had in-built resilience parameters in the overall city planning. Considering the case of more recent urban systems, the city of Jaipur is a classic example of a climate responsive city. Built in a grid-iron pattern, the city has been designed to protect its dwellers from the harsh desert sun and hot-dry climatic conditions. The city, when designed for its existing and anticipated population had inbuilt provisions in its planning to account for the carrying capacity of the land and its resources. Taking a cue from these urban systems designs, there is a need for Indian architects, planners and urban designers to rethink our strategies for present and future urban systems designs and incorporate systems to build climate resilient cities for our future. Need for policy initiatives/ interventions Policy initiatives formulated at the regional and local levels of urban planning have a wide spread impact on shaping up form and functions within a city. India has a robust system of urban development policies, missions and guidelines which have been developed with the intent of establishing a mechanism for sustainable urban development of Indian cities. The URDFI Guidelines, one of the pioneering documents in the country which lays the basis of urban planning, state that the Regional Plans and Development Plans must incorporate the possible impact of climate change on development. (MoUD, 2015) However most of the key urban policies, missions and programmes address the issue of climate resilience in passing and not as a main focus. These suggestions, though well intentioned, are suggestive in nature and are often lost in transition during the formulation and implementation of urban area plans. What India needs today is an overarching Urban Climate Resilience Policy which focuses on building resilience to climate change and drives the process of adapting the urban development systems. The policy needs to focus on the following key aspects: Climate Risk Profiling: The policy needs to set systems to conduct regional and city-based vulnerability assessments for understanding the requirements for resilience building. The assessment would analyse the preparedness of a region and each city within the region in combating unexpected climate associated incidences such as flash floods, localised inundations or heat waves. Setting-up Mechanisms for Proactive Planning: The policy needs to bring out the importance of incorporating climate change resilience in urban planning by setting up a regulatory framework for proactive planning. These regulations may be in the form of either state-level acts and regulations, which would mandate the consideration of climate related parameters in master planning at regional and city levels or city level development regulations like provisions in building bye-laws, zoning regulations etc. In addition to this, existence of an institutional set-up to streamline climate resilience in urban planning also needs to be given due importance. Institutional Capacity Building and Stakeholder Engagement: The policy needs to focus on devising awareness and capacity building initiatives focused on acquainting key stakeholders like city planners, decision-makers, political representatives, sectoral experts and citizens with the impacts of climate change and the associated need for adaptation. The policy also needs to lay down the framework for techniques, methods and tools required for vulnerability and risk assessments. Ensuring Access to Financing Options: The policy needs to lay down the framework for ensuring this from both public and private sources. Financial allocation through climate grants, establishment of regional and city level climate funds, issuance of green mortgage loans, tapping corporate sources for funding as well as introduction of public private partnership initiatives are some of the avenues that may be explored through policy intervention. Setting up Mechanisms for Monitoring and Evaluation: Timely monitoring and evaluation of the on-going efforts for mainstreaming climate resilience in the urban planning framework is necessary to ensure success. Setting up provisions for benchmarking and timely evaluation against those would be crucial for ensuring adaptation. The policy could draw inspiration from existing ISO standards for sustainable communities and suggest incorporation of similar evaluation systems. Establishment of an over-arching policy framework is the first necessary step for building up climate resilience of Indian cities. Once established, it would pave the way for streamlined implementation and build the adaptive capacities of the urban residents. q Anurita Bhatnagar Bibliography Dani, A. a. (1996). The Indus Civilization.http://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/silkroad/files/knowledge-bank-article/vol_I%20silk% 20road_the%20indus% 20civilization% 20BIS.pdf MoUD. (2015). Urban and Regional Development Plan Formulation and Implementation Guideline. Ministry of Urban Development. Guiding Principles for City Climate Action Planning, UN-HABITAT Planning for Climate Change, A strategic, value-based approach for urban planners; UN-HABITAT http://base.d-p-h.info/fr/fiches/dph/fiche-dph-8632.html http://www.teriin.org/policybrief/docs/Urban.pdf
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