Page 35 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 2

Çiğdem Coşkun Hepcan

Introduction

The climate crisis is getting worse, and there is an increase in the number of
disasters experienced around the earth. The effects of climate change are felt
deeply in the cities and issues caused by extreme weather conditions lead to
financial losses as well as social inequality, which influences the environment
and quality of life. Although these problems emerge in different ways in
each city, they are concentrated in areas with insufficient urban services and
those suffering from urban poverty (IPCC, 2021). In the decade between 2010
and 2020, 1.7 billion people were directly affected by these disasters (World
Disasters Report, 2020).
As climate risks are closely associated with urbanization, loss of biodiversity
and ecosystem services, and increasing social inequality, the cities around the
world face the problem of resilience. Over time, urban resilience issues are
expected to increase.
One of the main reasons for this situation is that the buildings, infrastructures
and essential services which were created based on the conditions and needs
from 100-150 years ago are now vulnerable to the changing conditions (Hardoy
and Ruete, 2013; IPCC, 2014). Cities host over half the world population, which
is expected to reach 70% by 2050. The majority of the world cities are located
in areas with climate risks such as coasts, flooding areas and islands, which
increases the scale of risks (Hallegatte et al, 2017).
It is obvious that extreme weather conditions, increasing climate risks and
environmental issues caused by climate change will lead to serious losses in
urban areas, and thus, cities need to be ready (UN-Habitat, 2020). In this sense,
the resilience of cities against risks and disasters, and the environmental, social
and economic sustainability of urban systems gain even more importance
(Boland et al, 2021; Leichenko, 2011). There is need for safe, inclusive, resilient
and sustainable cities which can easily recover from the shock and stress
caused by certain reasons.
That cities are vulnerable against climate change is related to the sense of
urbanization which alienates people from nature, which in fact brings people
together. This has a quite destructive effect on cities with weaker links to
natural systems.
Structural interventions towards mitigating disaster risks and increasing
climate resilience usually focus on grey infrastructure. However, the size
and frequency of disasters prove that grey solutions are not enough against
climate change and disasters.
In many cases, grey solutions can make the areas where they are applied
weaker against disasters. The embankments built to prevent floods, flooding

21 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate