25. A system approach to meeting the challenges of urban climate change

A Systems Approach to Building

Urban Resilience

TERI – Rockefeller International Workshop

Resilient Cities – Experiences from ACCCRN in Asia and Beyond

Ms Jo da Silva , Director, Arup International Development 29th _{January 2013}

Vulnerability

• Exposure: location of settlements on high risk areas such as flood plains, coastlines and inclined slopes susceptible to

landslides.

• Susceptibility: poor quality construction, lack of drainage or solid waste

management, ground water extraction.

• Poverty: limited access to basic

infrastructure and services (potable water, sanitation), lack of secure tenure or political voice;, poor education and health care,

limited employment opportunities

Grass-roots action at a community level is valuable, but many of these challenges can only be overcome by actions and

Direct and indirect impacts

• Climate change impacts vulnerable

populations:

i. Directly;

ii. Indirectly - as a result of dependency on the effective operation of the wider urban system.

• Action to reduce exposure and

improve the adaptive capacity of urban populations must

simultaneously address:

a. disaster risk reduction; b. urban poverty reduction; c. urban systems resilience

= Urban Climate Change Resilience (UCCR) a. b. c. i. i. ii.

Dependencies and interdependencies

• Climate change will affect the ecosystems, infrastructure , knowledge

networks and institutions that collectively enable a city to function.

• Traditional risk assessments founded on spatial analysis and climate projections

Cities as systems - conceptualising

Urban condition Rural condition

Cities as systems

–

urban boundary

CONTROL

• Administrative boundary

• Urban and suburban/peri-urban

• Sub-divided in smaller discreet administrative

boundaries (boroughs, districts, wards, etc.)

INFLUENCE

• Wider institutional policy and socio-economic

factors. Eg. national policy

• Includes spatial and non-spatial dynamics at

regional, national and global levels Eg.

– surrounding and distant ecosystems;

– neighbouring settlements;

Urban systems analysis

–

Surat

• Infrastructure, early warning

systems and emergency preparedness plans exist to mitigate flood risk; .

• Flood risk is linked to operation

of the reservoir which is outside the municipal boundary.

• Hydrological modelling and information exchange

between key institutions,

notably rainfall forecasters, dam managers and Surat

municipality is critical to improving resilience

Urban systems analysis

–

Indore

• Severe water shortages due to

limited local water supply, compounded by poor

management.

• Opportunity for community-level

interventions centred on

improving knowledge of water resources, how to use water efficiently and improving water quality

COMMUNITY SELF

Defining (and measuring) resilience

• Resilience is system attribute

that reflects its ability to perform (or function) in response to

shocks and stresses.

• System resilience cannot be measured directly, except in terms of changing performance

to similar shocks and stresses over time.

Characteristics of elements of resilient systems

• As a proxy, the elements of the

system (infrastructure,

institutions, ecosystems and

knowledge networks) in a resilient city, will demonstrate a number of

key characteristics .

• A first step towards developing measurable indicators

Summary - Key points

• City scale actions (and interventions) is needed to address many of the challenges faced by poor or vulnerable groups.

• Urban Climate Change Resilience (UCCR) must simultaneously address: disaster risk reduction, poverty reduction; and urban system resilience.

• Spatial analysis alone is insufficient; it does not recognise the flows of goods, services and people that enable a city to function.

• Systems analysis recognises the interdependencies between eco-systems, institutions, infrastructure and knowledge networks and flow of goods and services that enable urban communities and business to flourish.

• A simplified systems model can be used to identify weaknesses and opportunity for intervention; ie. what to do?

• Measuring resilience is problematic; targeting enhancing the characteristics (or qualities) of system elements serves as proxy.

Thank you

Further information:

Jo da Silva international-development@arup.com

Sam Kernaghan samuel.kernaghan@arup.com

Full article is in the International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development © 2012

Urban systems analysis

–

Surat

• Infrastructure, early warning

systems and emergency preparedness plans exist to mitigate flood risk; .

• Flood risk is linked to operation of the reservoir which is outside the municipal boundary.

• Hydrological modelling and information exchange

between key institutions,

notably rainfall forecasters, dam managers and Surat

municipality is critical to improving resilience

Urban systems analysis

–

Indore

• Severe water shortages due to

limited local water supply, compounded by poor

management.

• Opportunity for community-level interventions centred on

improving knowledge of water resources, how to use water efficiently and improving water quality

COMMUNITY SELF

Defining (and measuring) resilience

• Resilience is system attribute

that reflects its ability to perform (or function) in response to

shocks and stresses.

• System resilience cannot be measured directly, except in terms of changing performance

to similar shocks and stresses over time.

Characteristics of elements of resilient systems

• As a proxy, the elements of the system (infrastructure,

institutions, ecosystems and

knowledge networks) in a resilient city, will demonstrate a number of key characteristics .

• A first step towards developing measurable indicators

Summary - Key points

• City scale actions (and interventions) is needed to address many of the challenges faced by poor or vulnerable groups.

• Urban Climate Change Resilience (UCCR) must simultaneously address: disaster risk reduction, poverty reduction; and urban system resilience.

• Spatial analysis alone is insufficient; it does not recognise the flows of goods, services and people that enable a city to function.

• Systems analysis recognises the interdependencies between eco-systems, institutions, infrastructure and knowledge networks and flow of goods and services that enable urban communities and business to flourish.

• A simplified systems model can be used to identify weaknesses and opportunity for intervention; ie. what to do?

• Measuring resilience is problematic; targeting enhancing the characteristics (or qualities) of system elements serves as proxy.

Thank you

Further information:

Jo da Silva international-development@arup.com

Sam Kernaghan samuel.kernaghan@arup.com

Full article is in the International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development © 2012 Taylor & Francis. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19463138.2012.718279