This book offers essential insights into potential catastrophic events that might befall upon the emerging urban landscape in South Asia, and which are due to hazards, risks and vulnerabilities inherent in the region’s geophysical location, as well as due to climate change and unplanned urbanization. It highlights major physio-graphic, demographic, geological and geophysical indicators that are responsible for changing the pattern and trend of urbanization in South Asia – a crucial issue in view of emerging threats of climate change, and changes in the demographic profile. The book addresses the disaster management scenario in South Asia, manifestations of climate change in the region and various urban setups under climate-change-induced risks. Further, it elaborates on the challenges of urbanization-based neo-risks and vulnerabilities, which manifest in the form of slum area growth, piling and littering of waste and filth, new health risks, groundwater contamination, air pollution, highly energy-dependent lifestyles, poverty, socio-economic tensions, etc. It also critically examines the institutional mechanisms for disaster risk reduction (DRR), climate change adaptation (CCA) and urban governance, and suggests appropriate changes in the governing structure to mitigate these risks. The book draws the attention of urban planners and policymakers to current shortcomings in the administrative and financial structures of local urban bodies. While outlining climate-associated risks and adaptation strategies in South Asia, it also suggests measures for integrating climate change and urban adaption with state's planning processes, and puts forward a risk alleviation platform to bring the risk managers working in different fields together, so that they make concerted efforts to achieve sustainable development. It offers valuable takeaways for researchers, urban planners, those working in industry, consultants, and policymakers.

Exploring the ways that contemporary urban life takes the Holocene for granted, this multidisciplinary book warns that anthropogenic environmental impacts are on course to challenge the viability of most human settlements. It highlights how, despite increased warnings, most cities appear to be in denial of the potential impending catastrophes and remain ill-prepared to handle major disruptions.

This handbook provides the most comprehensive examination of Asian cities—developed and developing, large and small—and their urban development. Investigating the urban challenges and opportunities of cities from every nation in Asia, the handbook engages not only the global cities like Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, and Mumbai but also less studied cities like Dili, Malé, Bandar Seri Begawan, Kabul, and Pyongyang. The handbook discusses Asian cities in alignment to the United Nations’ New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals in order to contribute to global policy debates. In doing so, it critically reflects on the development trajectories of Asian cities and imagines an urban future, in Asia and the world, in the post-sustainable, post-global, and post-pandemic era. Presenting 43 chapters of original, insightful research, this book will be of interest to scholars, practitioners, students, and general readers in the fields of urban development, urban policy and planning, urban studies, and Asian studies.

This open access book examines how and why various forms of climate (im)mobilities can impact people's objective and subjective well-being. Worsening climate impacts are forcing subsistence farmers worldwide to decide between staying or leaving their homes. This mixed methods study analyzes cases of climate-related migration, displacement, relocation, and immobility in Peru's coastal, highland, and rainforest regions. The results reveal that numerous farmers experienced profound and often negative well-being impacts, regardless of whether they stayed or migrated. The higher the structural constraints, such as weak governance, and the more damaging the climate impacts were, the higher the risk of well-being declines. Additionally, the affected individuals often had limited agency and ability to mitigate losses. These findings challenge the notion of "migration as adaptation" and emphasize the importance of safeguarding the human rights and security of those affected while addressing loss and damage. Without significant investments in such efforts, climate impacts could sharply diminish the well-being of numerous subsistence farmers worldwide—irrespective of whether they stay or migrate.

This book examines the global campaign to end hunger and malnutrition. Focus is placed on the work of the United Nations which has led international efforts to improve food security in the world’s poorest countries. The book first reviews the long-term project to establish access to safe, sufficient, and nutritious food as a universally recognized human right. This is followed by separate chapters that examine the nature and central causes of food insecurity in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. These chapters also review the contemporary work of three United Nations agencies – the World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Fund for Agricultural Development – in providing both food aid and food assistance to each region of the developing world. This includes the provision of emergency food aid in response to natural disaster and civil conflict, as well as longer-term food assistance to promote agricultural productivity, advance rural development, and preserve natural environments. The concluding chapter considers ways to strengthen food aid and assistance in the years to come, with many of the recommendations advanced reflecting lessons learned from the actual experience of food aid and assistance described in this book.

This book focuses on enhancing urban regeneration performance and strategies that pave the way toward sustainable urban development models and solutions. The book at hand thoroughly examines the latest studies on the regeneration of urban areas and attempts at alleviating the negative impacts associated with high population density and urban heat effects. It gathers contributions that combine theoretical reflections and international case studies on urban regeneration and transformation with the single goal of tackling existing social and economic imbalances and developing new solutions. The primary audience of this book will be from the field of architecture and urban planning, offering new insights on how to address the myriad of problems that our cities are facing.

The Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides a comprehensive assessment of the scientific literature relevant to climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. The report recognizes the interactions of climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, and human societies, and integrates across the natural, ecological, social and economic sciences. It emphasizes how efforts in adaptation and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions can come together in a process called climate resilient development, which enables a liveable future for biodiversity and humankind. The IPCC is the leading body for assessing climate change science. IPCC reports are produced in comprehensive, objective and transparent ways, ensuring they reflect the full range of views in the scientific literature. Novel elements include focused topical assessments, and an atlas presenting observed climate change impacts and future risks from global to regional scales. Available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This comprehensive Handbook assesses the escalation of global natural disasters as a result of climate change. Examining the complex interplay of human and natural activities, it highlights the growing vulnerability of people and communities in developing countries to floods, landslides, cyclones, heat waves and wildfires.