Projects per year
Abstract
The relationship between “coping” and “resilience” increasingly features in academic, policy and practical discussions on adaptation to climate change in urban areas. This paper examines this relationship in the context of
households in “extreme poverty” in the city of Khulna, Bangladesh. It draws
on a quantitative data set based on 550 household interviews in low-income
and informal settlements that identified the extent of the underlying drivers of
vulnerability in this setting, including very low income, inadequate shelter, poor
nutritional status and limited physical assets. A series of focus groups were used to explore the ways in which physical hazards have interacted with this underlying
vulnerability, as a means to understand the potential impacts of climate change
on this particular group of urban residents. These outcomes include frequent
water-logging, the destruction of houses and disruption to the provision of basic
services. The main focus of the paper is on describing the practices of low-income
urban residents in responding to climate-related shocks and stresses, placing
these in a particular political context, and drawing lessons for urban policies in
Bangladesh and elsewhere. A wide range of specific adaptation-related activities
can be identified, which can be grouped into three main categories – individual,
communal and institutional. The paper examines the extent to which institutional
actions are merely “coping” – or whether they create the conditions in which
individuals and households can strengthen their own long-term resilience.
Similarly, it examines the extent to which individual and communal responses are
merely “coping” – or whether they have the potential to generate broader political
change that strengthens the position of marginalized groups in the city.
households in “extreme poverty” in the city of Khulna, Bangladesh. It draws
on a quantitative data set based on 550 household interviews in low-income
and informal settlements that identified the extent of the underlying drivers of
vulnerability in this setting, including very low income, inadequate shelter, poor
nutritional status and limited physical assets. A series of focus groups were used to explore the ways in which physical hazards have interacted with this underlying
vulnerability, as a means to understand the potential impacts of climate change
on this particular group of urban residents. These outcomes include frequent
water-logging, the destruction of houses and disruption to the provision of basic
services. The main focus of the paper is on describing the practices of low-income
urban residents in responding to climate-related shocks and stresses, placing
these in a particular political context, and drawing lessons for urban policies in
Bangladesh and elsewhere. A wide range of specific adaptation-related activities
can be identified, which can be grouped into three main categories – individual,
communal and institutional. The paper examines the extent to which institutional
actions are merely “coping” – or whether they create the conditions in which
individuals and households can strengthen their own long-term resilience.
Similarly, it examines the extent to which individual and communal responses are
merely “coping” – or whether they have the potential to generate broader political
change that strengthens the position of marginalized groups in the city.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 112-129 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Environment and Urbanization |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 5 Feb 2014 |
Projects
- 1 Finished
-
Pro poor adaptation to Climate Change in Urban areas of Bangladesh
Haque, A. N. (Principal investigator) & Dodman, D. (Co-investigator)
9/01/12 → 31/01/14
Project: Research project (funded) › Research