Adaptive Capacity - Climate Change Adaptation and Development: Transforming Paradigms and Practices - page 54

4
adaptive CapaCity
From coping to sustainable
transformation
Christine Wamsler and Ebba Brink
introduction
Climate change and increasing disasters are among the most serious risks to
sustainable urban development today. 1 Worldwide, the number of disasters
has almost quadrupled during the past 30 years (UNISDR 2012), and there
is widespread consensus that urban disasters are increasing exponentially, 2
resulting in escalating human and economic losses (IPCC 2012a).
Throughout history, humans have managed to cope with their environment
and adapt to it (Easterling et al. 2004; Shaw et al. 2008). This accumulated local
capacity is increasingly recognized as critical for reducing risk and vulnerability
(see e.g. Shaw et al. 2008; IPCC 2012a; Soltesova et al. 2012; Dodman and
Mitlin 2013; Wamsler 2014).
Urbanization finds expression in characteristic physical, environmental,
socio-cultural, economic and institutional features - which inevitably create
specific conditions of risk (Wamsler 2014). However, comparatively little
focus is placed on the adaptive capacities of city dwellers; and such capacities
are rarely considered by city authorities (Satterthwaite et al. 2007; Shaw et al.
2008; Carmin et al. 2012). Moreover, environmental changes are occurring at an
unprecedented rate and magnitude (Steffen et al. 2004; O'Brien and Leichenko
2008), placing new demands on human capacity to adapt.
Without adequate support from city authorities and aid organizations, urban
dwellers cannot use their adaptive capacity to its fullest extent. Even worse,
inadequate assistance may result in city authorities and city dwellers obstructing
each other's adaptation efforts (Ahammad 2011; Hamza et al. 2012; Wamsler
2014).
This study probes the consequences of the local adaptation efforts of city
dwellers, and why they should be considered when developing policies and