Contested grounds: Adaptation to flooding and the politics of (in)visibility in São Paulo’s eastern periphery

Henrique, Karen Paiva; Tschakert, Petra

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.04.026

Cited by 28 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Furthermore, even with the vital financial and technological support from CORC, the ISN leaders felt that they had not been recognised as legitimate stakeholders by the City [40] and that the implementation of the technical solution which they were proposing was dependent on a socio-institutional domain in which their voices went largely unheard due to, in part, the mentalities of City officials [10,41]. This implies that it is necessary for the groups involved in multi-level climate action to confront the socio-political context within which they find themselves by acknowledging each other's lived experiences and being aware of each other's mentalities, vulnerabilities, and histories [35,63]. By bringing together various groups with different lived realities and different forms of knowledge, multi-level governance can provide a space in which the complex socio-political dynamics currently hindering technical processes can be unpacked and addressed [49].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This demonstrates the difference that an individual can make because of their specific skillset and characteristics. It also demonstrates the fact that successful climate action requires the application of new forms of learning, particularly in the uncertain and politically charged context of informal settlements where it is vital for local communities to be recognised by the authorities as legitimate stakeholders [62,63].…”

Section: Enabler No 3: City Facilitating Co-design Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sanitation Upgrading as Climate Action: Lessons for Local Government from a Community Informal Settlement Project in Cape Town

Peirson

Ziervogel

2021

Sustainability

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In light of the increasing call for climate action, there is a growing body of literature studying the ways in which informal settlements in the Global South are adapting to the impacts of climate change. In these particularly vulnerable communities where the existing infrastructural vulnerabilities faced by residents are exacerbated by the hazards of climate change, multi-level approaches involving more inclusive forms of governance are needed for the implementation of climate action. Drawing from the case of a sanitation upgrading project in the informal settlement of Murray, located in Philippi, Cape Town, this paper adds to current understandings of multi-level rapid climate action in informal settlements by endeavouring to address two gaps in this body of literature. Firstly, this paper demonstrates a link between climate change and sanitation which has received little attention by showing that improving sanitation infrastructure makes communities more resilient to extreme weather events associated with climate change. Secondly, the paper addresses how and by whom rapid climate action can be implemented in complex socio-institutional contexts such as informal settlements where the impacts of climate change are felt particularly strongly. This paper identifies what enabled and constrained climate action in the Murray informal settlement in an attempt to provide lessons for local government from the case of the sanitation upgrading project. Bottom-up initiation of multi-level climate action is dependent on fragile partnerships which require the support and involvement of a skilled and dedicated local government. Nevertheless, co-operative and transparent engagements across levels hold the potential to contribute to transformative adaptation through the establishment of new partnerships and forms of governance which recognise community groups as legitimate stakeholders and acknowledge the importance of lived experiences and mentalities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Enabler No 3: City Facilitating Co-design Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sanitation Upgrading as Climate Action: Lessons for Local Government from a Community Informal Settlement Project in Cape Town

Peirson

Ziervogel

2021

Sustainability

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“…In particular, the application of resilience planning as a development agenda in the last decades has capitalized on branding cities as climateand flood-adaptive sites to encourage investments by the tourism industry, real-estate developers, and the new sustainability class (Connolly, 2019;Anguelovski et al, 2020;Garcia-Lamarca et al, 2021). The exclusionary controls over the types and locations of investments can exacerbate vulnerabilities, whether through increased land values/rents and ensuing climate gentrification (Chu et al, 2017;Shi, 2020) or through the forced relocation of marginalized groups to clear space for large-scale projects (Henrique and Tschakert, 2019). Accordingly, enhancing urban form resilience through flood-adaptive land use planning and town plan design risks excluding vulnerable neighborhoods that already lack sufficient adaptive capacity (Anguelovski et al, 2016).…”

Section: Climate Justice Challenges In Urban Form Adaptationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Henceforth, urban form refers to land uses and the town plan -two of the three Conzen's (1960) urban morphology components 1 . For example, when retreat is adopted as a land use adaptation measure for flood-prone areas, it often entails the forced relocation of marginalized communities to sites far away from their social networks and livelihoods, hence worsening their vulnerabilities (Henrique and Tschakert, 2019).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Distributive Justice and Urban Form Adaptation to Flooding Risks: Spatial Analysis to Identify Toronto's Priority Neighborhoods

Mohtat

Khirfan

2022

Front. Sustain. Cities

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Empirical evidence points out that urban form adaptation to climate-induced flooding events—through interventions in land uses and town plans (i. e., street networks, building footprints, and urban blocks)—might exacerbate vulnerabilities and exposures, engendering risk inequalities and climate injustice. We develop a multicriteria model that draws on distributive justice's interconnections with the risk drivers of social vulnerabilities, flood hazard exposures, and the adaptive capacity of urban form (through land uses and town plans). The model assesses “who” is unequally at-risk to flooding events, hence, should be prioritized in adaptation responses; “where” are the high-risk priority areas located; and “how” can urban form adaptive interventions advance climate justice in the priority areas. We test the model in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where there are indications of increased rainfall events and disparities in social vulnerabilities. Our methodology started with surveying Toronto-based flooding experts who assigned weights to the risk drivers based on their importance. Using ArcGIS, we then mapped and overlayed the risk drivers' values in all the neighborhoods across the city based on the experts' assigned weights. Accordingly, we identified four high-risk tower communities with old infrastructure and vulnerable populations as the priority neighborhoods for adaptation interventions within the urban form. These four neighborhoods are typical of inner-city tower blocks built in the 20th century across North America, Europe, and Asia based on modern architectural ideas. Considering the lifespan of these blocks, this study calls for future studies to investigate how these types of neighborhoods can be adapted to climate change to advance climate justice.

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“…The most pressing of these has been exclusionary adaptation, e.g. adaptation planning that excludes informal settlements or communities with limited political power (Henrique & Tschakert 2019). Similarly, interest in green infrastructure both as a mitigation and adaption measure has been attended by concerns that the benefits may serve only some populations and, such as gentrification, result in the displacement of vulnerable people (Anguelovski, Irazábal-Zurita, & Connolly 2019;Turan 2018).…”

Section: Wellbeing and Built Environment Synergiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate justice and the built environment

Klinsky

Mavrogianni

2020

Buildings and Cities

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HighlightsClimate justice is explained and explored in relation to how decisions about the built environment in the climate context intersect with human wellbeing. Key features in the built environment are identified that impact upon climate injustice. Specific processes, decisions and actions are identified to reduce these injustices and to reduce current gaps both in knowledge and practices. A conceptual and practical context is provided for integrating concerns about climate justice into research and decision-making about the built environment by addressing four underlying questions: 1. What is climate justice and why is it a significant issue? 2. Why is the built environment important in addressing climate injustice, and why is climate justice essential for the built environment community to consider? 3. What processes can be used to reduce inequities and injustices in the built environment? 4. What roles might the academic community, governmental entities, and practitioners in construction, design and real estate, have in facilitating deeper integration of climate justice? A capabilities approach is proposed to systematically uncover and address underlying patterns of injustice. A multi-valent approach involving distributive, procedural and recognition justice can be harnessed to constitute a justice framework. A process of change is needed to: (i) reframe, reposition and extend current built environment research to engage with wider issues of justice, (ii) build and make accessible the evidence base for the identification and mitigation of inequities in climate risk exposures, vulnerabilities, and effective and equitable adaptation pathways and (iii) define responsibilities for different actors.

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Contested grounds: Adaptation to flooding and the politics of (in)visibility in São Paulo’s eastern periphery

Cited by 28 publications

References 47 publications

Sanitation Upgrading as Climate Action: Lessons for Local Government from a Community Informal Settlement Project in Cape Town

Sanitation Upgrading as Climate Action: Lessons for Local Government from a Community Informal Settlement Project in Cape Town

Distributive Justice and Urban Form Adaptation to Flooding Risks: Spatial Analysis to Identify Toronto's Priority Neighborhoods

Climate justice and the built environment

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