ABSTRACT
Rapid urbanisation is often associated with both prosperity and new challenges
in improving the well-being of low-income urban residents. Although cities are
often conceived of as engines of economic growth and cultural development,
more than one billion urban residents worldwide live in conditions of inadequate
shelter, poor access to basic services, insecurity of land tenure and uncertain
livelihoods. Climate change will bring gradual change and extreme events that
compound the existing risks facing these people. Dominant responses to climate
change in urban areas have tended to focus on the role of municipal or national
governments, sometimes in association with private sector partners (Bulkeley
and Betsill 2005; Anguelovski and Carmin 2011; Corfee-Morlot et al. 2011). However, in recent years a growing number of development NGOs and inter-
national organisations have started to engage with efforts to assist towns and
cities to adapt to climate change, with increasing interest in the potential of
community-based adaptation (CBA) to build adaptive capacity among low-
income urban residents. These approaches draw on aspects of governance, such
as local decision-making and ownership, and utilise a range of tools and
approaches intended to integrate community participation into urban planning.
