People living in coastal cities around the world face great risks from the impacts of climate change. In the developing world, these often combine with the challenges of urban development and overcoming poverty and sharp inequalities into a particularly difficult set of tasks for local policy-makers. While they often focus on large infrastructural measures and coastal defenses, integrated and inclusive solutions that tackle not only people’s exposure to hazards but also social vulnerabilities and their root causes, are also needed. 

 

“Transformative adaptation” can be understood as a change that can overcome inequalities and root causes of vulnerability. The speakers at this seminar introduce this concept and then assess its potential to inform policy making for urban climate resilience and social development in coastal cities with a particular focus on Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta.