284 ■ CITIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate Change and Urban Planning in Southeast Asia
Belinda Yuen and Leon Kong
Th e challenge of climate change is real and urgent in Southeast Asia. Southeast
Asia is one of the world’s fastest growing regions. Th is paper presents a desk
review of the state of climate change research and policy in Southeast Asia.
It highlights the challenges, knowledge gaps, and promising practices, with a
specifi c focus on urban planning interventions to increase cities’ resilience to
climate change. Th e discussion refl ects on how urban form and planning can
support people’s sustainable choices in terms of transportation, housing, and
leisure activities and conveys the drivers and barriers to urban planning as a
strategy of climate proofi ng. Issues that can be addressed through appropriate
urban policy, planning, design, and governance are highlighted.
Social Aspects of Climate Change in Urban Areas in Low- and
Middle-Income Nations
Sheridan Bartlett, David Dodman, Jorgelina Hardoy, David Satterthwaite,
and Cecilia Tacoli
Th is paper discusses the implications of climate change for social welfare and
development in urban areas in low- and middle-income nations, especially for
those people with low incomes and those who are particularly vulnerable to cli-
mate-change impacts. Hundreds of millions of urban dwellers in these nations
are at risk from the direct and indirect impacts of current and likely future
climate change—for instance, more severe or frequent storms, fl oods and heat
waves, constraints on fresh water and food supplies, and higher risks from a
range of water and food-borne and vector-borne diseases. But these risks
are distributed very unevenly between nations, between urban areas within
nations, and between populations within urban areas. Th is is underpinned by
diff erentials in the following:
- Th e scale and nature of hazards by site and location
- Th e quality of housing, infrastructure, and services
- Th e extent of measures taken for disaster risk reduction (including postdi-
saster response) - Th e capacity and preparedness of local governments to address the needs of
low-income groups and to work with them - Th e social and political capital of those who face the greatest risks