INTRODUCTION: CITIES AND THE URGENT CHALLENGES ■ 9areas and landslides on steep slopes, and to extended heat waves that threaten
cities unaccustomed to very hot summers. In every city, the poorest popula-
tions are the most vulnerable, because they have the least adaptive capacity
and oft en occupy areas that are more exposed to hazards. Building resilience
and adapting to climate change are therefore a high priority for cities. Yet city
managers and practitioners serving the urban poor oft en point out that the
multiple competing priorities of today are challenging enough; paying atten-
tion to uncertain future climate impacts is thus seen as a lower priority. In light
of this, better appreciation of the cobenefi ts from urban poverty reduction and
adaptation to climate change is needed.
Cities Responding to the Adaptation Challenge
In spite of the emphasis on mitigation thus far, and the many existing press-
ing needs faced by city managers and practitioners, there is a growing body
of research and practice on adaptation in cities. Again, cities in industrial-
ized countries are commonly cited as examples of good practice in adaptation
planning, but cities in developing countries are also increasingly interested
and active in this area. Heinrichs and others present fi ndings from eight cities
(Bogota, Cape Town, Delhi, the Pearl River Delta, Pune, Santiago de Chile, São
Paulo, and Singapore) in their chapter, “Adapting Cities to Climate Change:
Opportunities and Constraints.” Th e full collection of symposium papers also
refl ected this trend of increased activity in climate adaptation among develop-
ing country cities, for example, in the papers by Carmin and others, which
examined the cases of Durban and Quito, and by Dodman and others on
community-level responses in the Philippines. Together, these papers show that
far from being laggards, in many cases developing country cities are the ones
turning out to be the fi rst movers and innovators when it comes to preparing
for, and adapting to, future climate impacts.
Several key enabling factors can be identifi ed among those cities that are
already responding to the adaptation challenge. Th e importance of identifying
these enabling factors cannot be overemphasized, because these are essential
for ensuring that cities are able to adapt. Bulkeley and others argue that these
factors largely fall under the area of institutions and governance, which suggests
that eff orts to strengthen institutional and governance capacities in general at
the city level would have the cobenefi t of enabling better responses for adapta-
tion. Heinrichs and others highlight several factors that also emerge across the
wider collection of studies, including the availability of information, the need
for higher levels of awareness, synergies with existing priorities and programs,
the existence of strong leadership, availability of dedicated resources, and ade-
quate technical and fi nancial capacities.