Building climate
resilience through
urban planning
processes
The Challenges of
Practice
Urban climate challenges; SE Asia
•
SE Asia rapidly urbanizing
•
Huge transformations of land
•
Much of climate change
impacts are about water and
land
–
Water availability, quality
–
Flooding, storms, hazards
–
Sea Level Rise
Resilience
• Bridges adaptation & mitigation divides
• Addresses complex dynamic systems
• Embraces multiple scales
• Assumes adaptive learning, flexible institutions, but:
– Power & politics
– How meanings & values are socially constructed
Mainstreaming into what?
• Assumptions of mainstreaming:
– Rational policy and planning processes
– Working law, and enforcement of regulations
– Policy & practice technical - not about politics and power
• Mismatch between policy and
implementation is not being considered (except as a technical problem)
• Need radical rethinking of
Perception and reality: examples
Perceived problem Reality
The problem of policy and planning is often presented (even by local actors) as a
weakness of implementation
When societal norms are not based in transparent, inclusive and representative government, weak enforcement systems can be use to legitimize what would
otherwise be questionable practice.
Lack of checks and balances System kept weak allowing elite resource capture
Urban expansion is chaotic because of weak planning and implementation
Urban expansion is chaotic because strong actors are amassing benefits and pliable planning processes legitimize corrupt and other practices
Planning should bring order & justice to urban management and expansion
Lack of recognition that policy and planning serves other purposes than legitimate
Planning - a technical exercise?
• Development support and technical advice focuses on planning as a technical exercise, but:
– Planning is closely related to the legitimacy and authority of the state
– The spread of urban centers is part of a historical struggle between the
center and periphery
– And spread of capital through economic integration
Local government
• Local governments are agents – actors with capacity shaping
– Room for maneuver around the very frameworks that they own
– Ownership of information (‘cognitive capital’)
– Critical roles over land, thereby generating financial & political capital
– Roles of other actors and networks who may also have enormous
Land & Information
• Underpinning urbanization is land use change and expansion
• Land use change and expansion in turn changes values of land
• Conversion creates climate risks & cause displacement shocks to others
Urban Resilience
Resilience
• Links to adaptive management, flexible, learning oriented institutions & processes
• Can create new space for rethinking urban futures
• Relies on critical issues of information, knowledge & power
• Needs to put values center stage including justice, rights, wellbeing
The Big Lesson
• Resilience is not about mainstreaming but reconfiguring urban policy and
planning:
– We argue for facilitating informed public processes, where critical information about land, current and projected vulnerability is in the public domain
References
From ACCCRN:
Moench, M., S. Tyler and J. Lage (2011) Catalyzing Urban Climate Resilience: Applying resilience concepts to planning practice in the ACCCRN program (2009-2011) Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET): Boulder, Colorado
Other:
Long, N & A. Long (eds) (1992) Battlefields of Knowledge: The Interlocking of Theory and Practice in Social Research and Development Routledge: London
Majone, G (1989) Evidence, Argument and Persuasion in the Policy Process Yale University Press: Yale
Ribiero, G (2005) Research into Urban Development and Cognitive Capital in Thailand The Journal of Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies vol. 4, no. 1,
ACCCRN - www.acccrn.org ISET – www.i-s-e-t.org
