Urban resilience and sustainability through peri-urban ecosystems: Integrating climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction

Lessons from studies conducted by the authors are important to be utilized and mainstreamed into the policy planning and capacity building process to address the gap areas in understanding, practice and capacities of key stakeholders in addressing the issues of peri-urban and urban-planning with emphasis on role of ecosystems in enhancing resilience of the land, people, resources, infrastructure and associated economic interventions. With these case studies this handbook of practice guidance and training module along with implementation manual, has been developed, for wider use and reference. Interdependence and inter-relatedness of urban and peri-urban areas and their systems including in particular the ecosystems, form the backdrop in understanding urban carrying capacities accounting their supportive and assimilative strengths. Therefore, mainstreaming integration of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction into a broader framework of urban resilience needs to recognize the roles of ecosystems, particularly those in the periurban areas. Infrastructure and engineered systems, their redundancy, sustainability, reliability and operability, calls for greater understanding and integration of ecological infrastructure along the social resilience in peri-urban areas of a city or major township. There are concrete ways to improve the decision-making process to guide cities toward the aspired benefits. These include assessment and planning tools and mechanisms, policies and regulations, project cycle management with environmental decisions, cost-benefit etc. However, there is not as yet a systematic approach mainstreamed to incorporate issues of peri-urban land-use and ecological strengths and weaknesses in terms of contribution towards urban resilience against climatic and disaster risks.

Author:	Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network; Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group; National Institute of Disaster Management (India); The Rockefeller Foundation
Language:	English
Pubished By:	Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group
Pubished date:	2017