Achieving urban climate adaptation in Europe and Central Asia

Many cities across Europe and Central
Asia are experiencing the impacts of climate change, but
most have not integrated climate adaptation into their
agendas. This paper examines the threats faced and measures
that can be taken by cities in the region to protect
buildings, heritage sites, municipal functions, and
vulnerable urban populations. In general, local governments
must be proactive in ensuring that existing buildings are
climate ready, paying particular attention to emerging
technologies for retrofitting the prefabricated, panel style
buildings that dominate the landscape while assessing the
viability of homes situated in flood plains, coastal areas,
and steep slopes. They also must ensure that new
developments and buildings are designed in ways that account
for climatic fluctuations. Although the resilience of all
populations needs to be considered, historical patterns of
discrimination require that special provisions are made for
the poor and for ethnic minorities such as the Roma because
these groups will be most at risk, but are least likely to
have access to adequate resources. Urban climate adaptation
requires national-level support and local commitment.
However, centralized planning and expert-led decision-making
under the former regimes may affect the ability of cities to
pursue programmatic approaches to adaptation. Therefore,
while national governments need to make adaptation a policy
priority and ensure that municipalities have adequate
resources, local government agencies and departments must be
transparent in their actions and introduce participatory and
community-based measures that demonstrate respect for
diverse stakeholders and perspectives.