Climate Resilience in Cities: Why South Asian Cities Face Rising Climate Risks

Climate Resilience in Cities: Why South Asian Cities Face Rising Climate Risks

KAKALI DAS

A recent global climate resilience ranking by AlphaGeo AI highlights how differently cities are equipped to withstand and respond to climate related disasters.The ranking assessed 72 of the world’s largest cities and examined their ability to withstand and respond to climate related disasters. Chicago in the United States emerged at the top of the list, while several South Asian cities were placed near the bottom. Indian cities such as Ahmedabad and Kolkata were among those with low rankings.

The ranking raises an important question. Does a low position mean that a city is naturally more vulnerable to climate disasters, or does it tell us something about how prepared that city is to face them?

Geography certainly matters. A city located along a river, on a coastline or in a region that regularly experiences extreme heat will naturally face certain hazards. But geography alone does not determine the damage caused by a disaster. The way a city is planned, the quality of its infrastructure, the strength of its warning systems, the effectiveness of its institutions and the ability of its people to respond can all change the outcome.

This is why urban climate resilience has become such an important concept. In simple terms, urban climate resilience is the ability of a city and its people to prepare for climate related hazards, reduce their impact, respond when they occur and recover afterwards.A resilient city is not necessarily a city where disasters never happen. That is almost impossible in a world experiencing a changing climate. Instead, it is a city that understands its risks and has the systems needed to deal with them.

To understand why some cities are more vulnerable than others, it is useful to look at three connected elements: hazard, exposure and vulnerability.

A hazard is the climate event itself. It could be a flood, heat wave, cyclone, storm, drought or wildfire. Exposure refers to the people, buildings, roads, businesses, industries and other assets that are located in areas where these hazards can occur. Vulnerability describes how badly those exposed people and systems may be affected.

Consider two cities that experience the same amount of heavy rainfall. If one city has functioning drainage systems, protected wetlands, open spaces, flood warning systems and buildings designed to withstand intense rainfall, it may be able to manage the event relatively well. If the other city has blocked drains, extensive concrete surfaces, encroached wetlands and poor drainage, the same rainfall can result in severe flooding.

The hazard may be similar, but the consequences can be very different.This distinction is particularly important for South Asian cities. Many of these cities are experiencing rapid population growth and urbanisation. More people are moving into cities in search of employment, education and better opportunities. As populations grow, the demand for housing, roads, transport, water, electricity and other services also increases.

However, population growth has often moved faster than the development of urban infrastructure.This creates a difficult situation. When more people and buildings are concentrated in a particular area, exposure to climate hazards increases. If infrastructure does not expand at the same pace, vulnerability increases as well.

The problem becomes even more complicated when urban growth takes place without sufficient planning. Wetlands are filled for construction. Floodplains are occupied. Natural drainage channels are narrowed or covered. Open spaces disappear under concrete. Roads and buildings replace surfaces that could previously absorb rainwater.

Concrete itself is not the problem. Modern cities need roads, buildings and other infrastructure. The problem arises when natural systems are removed without creating adequate alternatives.When rain falls on soil, grass or other permeable surfaces, some of the water can enter the ground. When large areas are covered with concrete and asphalt, much of the water runs over the surface instead. If drainage systems cannot carry the additional water quickly enough, flooding becomes more likely. This is one reason why urban flooding has become such a major concern in many Indian cities.

The loss of wetlands makes the problem worse. Wetlands can act as natural storage areas during heavy rainfall. They can temporarily hold excess water and reduce pressure on urban drainage systems. When these spaces are destroyed or encroached upon, cities lose an important natural defence against flooding.

Floodplains play a similar role. Rivers need space to expand when water levels rise. When construction takes place too close to rivers, the consequences of flooding can become more severe for both people and infrastructure.Urban climate resilience therefore cannot be reduced to building stronger walls or larger drains. It requires cities to understand and protect the natural systems that already help manage climate risks.

Rapid urbanisation also creates another problem: inequality in exposure. Not everyone in a city experiences climate hazards in the same way. Wealthier residents may live in better constructed homes, have access to air conditioning, private transport, insurance and reliable healthcare. Poorer communities may live in informal settlements, low lying areas or locations close to drains, rivers and industrial zones. They may also have fewer resources to recover after a disaster.

A heat wave, for example, does not affect everyone equally. People who work outdoors, live in poorly ventilated homes or cannot afford cooling may face greater exposure to extreme heat. Similarly, a flood can have a much greater impact on families living in fragile housing or areas with poor drainage.

This means that climate resilience must also be understood as a question of social resilience. A city may have advanced infrastructure in some areas while remaining highly vulnerable in others. Building a climate resilient city therefore requires attention not only to major infrastructure projects but also to neighbourhoods, workers and communities that are most exposed to risk.

Technology can play an important role in this process. Better weather forecasting, satellite monitoring, sensors, mapping systems and data analysis can help cities understand where risks are increasing. Early warning systems can provide people with valuable time to move to safer locations or protect their homes and businesses.

But technology by itself cannot make a city resilient.A warning is useful only if it reaches people in time and if they know what action to take. A flood map is useful only if planners use it when deciding where construction should be allowed. Climate data becomes valuable when it is translated into decisions about roads, drainage, housing, transport, health and land use.

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Governance is therefore at the centre of urban resilience.Cities need clear policies, reliable funding, effective regulations and institutions capable of implementing them. Climate risks also need to be considered in everyday urban planning rather than treated as a separate environmental issue.

For example, when a new road is planned, authorities need to consider how it will affect drainage. When new housing is approved, planners need to consider whether the location is exposed to flooding or extreme heat. When urban expansion takes place, natural water bodies and wetlands need to be identified and protected.

The same principle applies to public transport, electricity networks, hospitals, schools and communication systems. Climate events can affect several systems at the same time. A flood may damage roads, interrupt electricity, disrupt public transport and make it difficult for emergency services to reach affected communities.A resilient city must therefore think about the urban system as a whole.

There is also an important difference between reducing climate risk and simply responding to disasters after they occur. Emergency response is essential, but resilience begins much earlier.Risk assessment should identify the areas most exposed to floods, heat, storms and other hazards. Authorities can then work towards reducing those risks through better planning and infrastructure.

Cities can restore wetlands, protect urban forests, increase green spaces, improve drainage, create shaded public areas and use building designs suited to local climate conditions. They can also improve waste management so that drains do not become blocked during heavy rainfall.

Heat resilience requires particular attention as temperatures rise. Trees and green spaces can provide shade and help reduce local temperatures. Buildings can be designed to improve ventilation and reduce heat absorption. Public spaces can be planned to provide relief during extreme heat. Cities can also develop heat action plans that identify vulnerable communities and establish measures for periods of extreme temperature.

Flood resilience requires a similar combination of natural and built solutions. Drainage systems need to be maintained and upgraded, but cities should not depend only on concrete infrastructure. Restoring water bodies, protecting wetlands and maintaining natural drainage channels can also reduce flood risk.

Climate change also creates challenges that are difficult to predict. Rainfall patterns can become more variable. A season expected to be dry may receive unexpected heavy rainfall, while a period that normally brings abundant rain may experience prolonged dry conditions.

India has already seen how difficult such changes can be for agriculture and urban planning. The uncertainty around rainfall affects food production, water management, electricity demand and the daily lives of millions of people.This unpredictability makes preparation even more important.Cities cannot simply prepare for one disaster based on historical patterns and assume that the same pattern will continue. Climate resilience requires planning for a range of possible conditions.

This is where the experience of cities that have already invested in resilience can offer useful lessons. The important question is not simply which city appears at the top of a ranking. The more useful question is what those cities have done to reduce their risks and whether those approaches can be adapted elsewhere.

Different cities will require different solutions. A coastal city cannot prepare for climate risks in exactly the same way as a city located inland. A city facing extreme heat will have different priorities from one facing frequent flooding. Geography creates different hazards, but planning determines how much of that hazard becomes a disaster.

The AlphaGeo AI ranking therefore offers a useful starting point for a larger conversation. It draws attention to the differences in climate preparedness among major cities, but rankings cannot capture every aspect of urban life. The assessment covers only 72 of the world’s largest cities, and conditions within each city can vary significantly from one neighbourhood to another.

A city’s position on a list should not become the final measure of its resilience. Instead, such assessments can encourage cities to ask more practical questions. Where are our most vulnerable communities? Which roads and buildings are most exposed to flooding? Which wetlands and natural drainage systems are disappearing? Can our warning systems reach everyone? Are our hospitals prepared for extreme heat? Can emergency services continue operating during a major flood or storm? Are new buildings being constructed with future climate conditions in mind? These are the questions that can turn climate resilience from a broad idea into an urban policy.

There is also a need to look beyond disaster response and consider the long term future of cities. Infrastructure built today may remain in use for decades. A road, bridge, drainage system or housing project constructed without considering future climate risks can create problems long after the original planners are gone.

Climate resilience therefore needs to become part of the basic design of cities.It is not an additional feature that can be added after a city has already been built. It has to be considered when land is allocated, buildings are designed, roads are planned and public services are developed.

The challenge is particularly urgent for South Asian cities because urbanisation is continuing rapidly. Millions more people are expected to live in urban areas in the coming decades. If this growth is not accompanied by better planning and climate resilient infrastructure, exposure to climate risks will continue to increase.

But vulnerability is not inevitable.Cities can change the way they grow. They can protect natural systems instead of treating them as vacant land. They can improve public infrastructure and strengthen early warning systems. They can use technology and data to understand risk. They can make planning more inclusive and ensure that vulnerable communities are part of resilience strategies.

Most importantly, cities need to stop viewing climate disasters as isolated events.A flood is connected to land use, drainage, wetlands, waste management and construction. A heat wave is connected to buildings, trees, public spaces, electricity and public health. A drought is connected to water management, agriculture, urban demand and changing rainfall patterns.

Climate resilience begins when these connections are recognised.The real test of a city is therefore not whether it can avoid every disaster. No city can do that. The real test is whether it can reduce unnecessary exposure, protect its people, respond effectively when a disaster occurs and recover without leaving vulnerable communities further behind.

The growing climate crisis is forcing cities to rethink what development means. A city cannot be considered successful simply because it has more buildings, wider roads or faster economic growth. It must also be capable of protecting the people who live in it and the natural systems that support it.

The question raised by the latest climate resilience rankings is therefore larger than where individual cities appear on a list. It is about whether cities are preparing for the climate they are moving towards, rather than designing themselves only for the climate they have already known.

For South Asian cities, that shift may be one of the most important urban challenges of the coming decades.

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