Opinion Author: Nimish Jha Comments
ASIA

Making cities safe from disaster is everybody's business.

Today's world is reaching new heights in production, technology and innovations. We are living in a world that provides better standards of living and rising income.

As a consequence, this pace of development has contributed to rapid growth and expansion of our cities. It has not only expanded our economic base but also provided options for livelihoods.

Certainly, this paints a very bright picture of our growth and urbanisation. However, what it does not portray is the plight of the people who are maginalised and forced to live a peripheral life that is devoid of any modicum of basic services.

Poor affordability has relegated these people to living lives of despondency and ignominy.

Furthermore, these trends have created an invisible fault line which is lateral but appears on the surface whenever the inequality between the haves and have nots comes out in the open. That they let their citizens live a marginalised life is why our cities come across as unsafe and exclusionary. Low level of services, environmental depletion and lack of necessary interventions, have contributed to this mess even more.

The fact that unregulated urbanization and climate change impacts are already happening in our cities makes them inequitable, environmentally vulnerable and unsafe. This has exposed their citizens to hazards and risks of extreme weather events. Poor coping mechanisms due to low affordability have further exacerbated the issue of safety and security of the population in the face of climate change. Recent riots in the city of Bengaluru in India highlighted these scenarios starkly, where a city that was developing into a leading information technology hub of the country was not able to address the needs and requirements of all the segments of society, especially the vulnerable.

In this scenario, to make our cities safe and inclusive becomes not only essential but also urgent. However, while we discuss these as challenges that are making our cities fragile and non homogenous, they are also represent opportuinities to make our cities safe, inclusive and resilient. These opportunities could lead towards creating environmentally sustainable and socially just cities that will make their citizens empowered and stakeholders engaged.

Understand the linkages

In this context, understanding the linkages and significance of stakeholders becomes essential.  All the stakeholders need to be on board and to take on their role and contribute to building climate resilient cities. This would ensure that the cities become environmentally sustainable and inclusive, and that resilience would be strengthened. Here in where the roles of the local and national level actors become very important as they are critical spokes, both in policy formulations, and their implementation. This will support in scaling up the needs and demands of the citizens.

A socially cohesive and just society

Cities have a lot of diversity with people having varying levels of wealth and status living together. Here one also finds the presence of sharp social divisions, hierarchies and unequal access to services. This has often led to high levels of urban violence that challenges the very notion of creating socially cohesive cities. By following a democratic approach to policy reform, the cities can minimize social vulnerabilities and build resilience. Some cities have been successful in creating environments that are conducive to the cohabitation of a diverse population and become resilient.

Active engagement of the communities

Social vulnerabilities, with the added impacts of climate change, can be minimized through the broad engagement and participation of all the stakeholders in the city. This is necessary for effective decision making and implementation of decisions. Educational institutions and the private sector could also be involved in this process for better engagement and participation. The knowledge gained through these engagements could be widely disseminated. Cities are well known to be laboratories for innovations and technology. This environment could be optimized to build a consensus on building resilient cities that are safe and inclusive.

Summing up

With the rising of variation already happening due to climate change and with time running out, we have to take necessary actions to ensure that our policy framework and structure are conducive to ensure social sustainability and minimize adverse impacts of climate change. Here is role of the stakeholder; its continued engagement and effective governance mechanism. All the stakeholders need to be empowered to achieve a win – win scenario. This will help in harnessing change through the right means.

 


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