“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”

— Stephen Hawking

Cities are vital centres of economic and cultural activities around the world. Most of the world’s population lives in urban areas, with the projected proportion expected to reach 68 percent by 2050. The high population density and concentrated energy consumption result in a unique set of problems. Urbanisation exacerbates poor air and water quality, insufficient water availability, etc. The growing number of urban areas makes urban planning more challenging.

As a result of global warming, we are witnessing frequent extreme weather events, droughts and flooding. Climate change is severely impacting life on earth. We are experiencing devastating economic and social impacts, especially in developing countries.

Anthropogenic activities have resulted in ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions, which are causing a rise in the average global temperature. The consequent changing rainfall patterns and more frequent extreme weather events, droughts and flooding have severely affected life on earth. As climate change intensifies, the frequency of climate disasters, with devastating effects on communities, built infrastructure and ecosystems, is on the rise.

Experts agree that even a +1.5-degree Celsius or +2-degree Celsius increase in global temperature will pose severe climate risks before the end of this century. Mitigation and adaptation strategies are therefore of vital importance in securing urban communities against heat threats and vulnerabilities.

The growing climate crisis demands mitigation and adaptation strategies to secure societies against urban heat threats and vulnerabilities. Nations are having trouble reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the failure to mitigate climate change is increasing our reliance on adaptation measures to manage environmental risks. Urban communities must adapt to climate change to remain habitable and prosperous in the future. Inaction may lead to dire consequences. Increasing adaptation capacity will lower the cost of future extreme events and improve the quality of life in cities. Adaptation plans must be initiated as early as possible to minimise the threats posed by the climate crisis.

Urban climate change adaptation is a complex challenge. Achieving environmental sustainability in metropolitan cities relies on both nature-based solutions and a range of innovative technologies. The current focus of urban climate change adaptation is on addressing climate-related hazards that threaten urban functions by increasing climate resilience. This means increasing the ability of an urban system to absorb the shocks and stresses exacerbated by climate change while ensuring the well-being of its inhabitants. The concept spans infrastructure, social systems and governance. It focuses on designing, constructing and maintaining infrastructure that can withstand and recover from climatic events. This goes hand-in-hand with community capacity building and ensuring the well-being of vulnerable populations.

Policymakers play a crucial role in developing and implementing policies that promote sustainable urban planning, encourage the use of renewable energy and ensure that the basic needs of the most vulnerable are properly addressed.

Urban communities can adapt to the climate crisis by decreasing their carbon footprints and incorporating features that are compatible with a changing and uncertain climate. This steers us toward a paradigm shift in the design, construction, operation and end-of-life management of built infrastructure.

The diversity of climate change determinants and available adaptation capacity will shape adaptation plans. Any such plan should focus on the most significant local issues and engage all stakeholders. Involving local and indigenous populations to identify diverse threat vectors and context-relevant responses to protect households and communities is key to effective environmental governance.

Buildings, roads and other urban infrastructure absorb and re-emit the sun’s heat more than natural landscapes such as forests and water bodies. This, combined with the “waste heat” from vehicles, factories and people, contributes to higher urban temperatures. Metropolitan areas are therefore much warmer than the rural areas surrounding them. These urban areas are regarded as “heat islands.” In cities, the impact of heatwaves is exacerbated by the urban heat island phenomenon. The reported trend in urban heat is feared to worsen due to continued urbanisation and global warming trends. Urban forests, green spaces, green roofs, and reflective surfaces can reduce the severity of heatwaves in cities.

Droughts have left more than 80 metropolitan cities around the world in a state of severe water shortage. The expansion of urbanised areas, together with population growth, is increasing water demand. Furthermore, projections of future droughts show an alarming risk of water crises worldwide. Urban water crises are expected to escalate, and the number of “thirsty” cities is likely to rise in the near future. Unfortunately, as before, the water crisis is hitting the most underprivileged sections of communities the hardest. Current policies aimed at tackling drought and urban water crises focus mostly on building resilient cities through additional and more efficient water infrastructure and technologies, improved early warning systems and the re-use of wastewater.

The architectural design of houses is sensitive to local climate. A recent study claims that the change in roof slope in traditional buildings in the northern part of China was an adaptation driven by extreme snowfall events over the past thousand years. Escalating climate change calls for affordable, reliable and resilient adaptation strategies. This requires revisiting design codes and standards to reduce the vulnerability of our buildings. Improving ventilation through structural modifications of buildings can also help reduce heat inside. Using green roofs—roofs covered in plants—helps cool buildings. Plants absorb carbon dioxide, a leading pollutant, and reduce the heat of the surrounding areas. Using lighter-coloured materials on buildings helps too, as brighter colours reflect more sunlight and trap less heat.

Architects and town planners face the challenging task of designing buildings while addressing the complex issues of climate change. They are exploring new design paradigms, methods and technologies that can be integrated into urban planning to achieve long-term, flexible adaptation in the face of uncertain conditions.

Unfortunately, to date, the urban climate crisis in Pakistan has not been systematically assessed. In a country that is among the most severely hit by climate change, the issues of adaptation have failed to draw the attention of policymakers, architects and town planners. The current financial downturn too is inhibiting the allocation of resources for near-term resilient urban planning. This further exposes our cities to future hazardous events and propels vicious cycles of fiscal and environmental shocks.

The solution space is shrinking rapidly. The only way forward is through strengthening national and international collaboration to design and implement urgent, sound and robust adaptation plans.

“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is

nature’s inexorable imperative.”

— HG Wells

The writer teaches at SZABIST, Islamabad. He can be reached at thepirsahib@yahoo.com