8 ■ CITIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE
buildings (Akinbami and Lawal), rainwater harvesting and evaporative cooling
in Germany (Schmidt), and sustainable house construction in France (Floissac
and others).
Th e motivations of cities and city stakeholders for engaging in climate miti-
gation also need to be understood. Warden’s chapter, “Viral Governance and
Mixed Motivations,” describes some of the factors that led to American cit-
ies committing to address climate change and to the launch of the U.S. Con-
ference of Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement (USMCPA) in 2005. Th e
USMCPA has been very successful in motivating mayors in the United States,
with more than 1,000 mayors signed on in 2010 (USCOM 2010). Growing
public awareness, a fl exible framework agreement, and having participants as
proponents all contributed to the “viral” spread of climate engagement among
U.S. cities. Th e USMCPA remains valuable because of its ability to generate
awareness and engage a large number of cities on the issue of climate change.
Although focused on the U.S. experience, Warden’s analysis indirectly helps
to advance our understanding of the engagement of cities worldwide on
climate change issues through international networks such as ICLEI and the
C40 cities.
A key observation is that, globally, climate change action among cities is
focused more on mitigation than on adaptation. Th is is a point advanced by
Bulkeley and others and reinforced by the analyses of Croci and others and
Warden. Th e broad fi eld of proposals submitted to the symposium also refl ected
a bias toward mitigation. Th is is the case even among cities in developing coun-
tries, even though these cities tend to have lower per capita emissions and thus
would have relatively fewer mitigation opportunities. Th ese cities’ vulnerability
to the impacts of climate change would also suggest an urgent need to focus
on adaptation issues. Although various explanations have been advanced,
such as the need for greater institutional capacity in developing countries, fur-
ther research exploring this relative emphasis on mitigation is needed, as is
strengthened understanding of how and why cities are motivated to undertake
action on adaptation.
Cities and Climate Change Adaptation
Given that cities are concentrated centers of population and economic activities,
any impact or disruption, whether natural or human induced, has the potential
to aff ect vast numbers of people. Th e expected impacts of climate change pose
a massive challenge to cities. Th ese impacts will vary from city to city, as well
as within a city. For instance, coastal cities are vulnerable to rising sea levels, to
more intense precipitation that increases the likelihood of fl ooding in low-lying