Towards Climate-Responsive Urban Planning

High rates of urbanization, industrialization, and economic development are exerting significant pressure on civic services and infrastructure across cities in developing countries, with climate change posing as a major threat. To address this, cities must align local mitigation and adaptation efforts with national and international climate goals. This requires both horizontal and vertical integration of climate policies to promote inclusive urban development. Policymakers need an integrated approach to climate-sensitive spatial and urban planning. This includes measures such as improving energy efficiency, adopting clean and renewable energy sources, and assessing climate-related risks and opportunities. Additionally, local spatial plans play a critical role in regulating land use and guiding sustainable urban development by integrating economic, social, and environmental factors across multiple scales. A climate-integrated spatial planning approach aims to systematically increase a city's resilience while ensuring sustainable development goals are met.
Against this background, partners aim to develop a knowledge product addressing climate integration in local urban planning, which would provide actionable guidance to cities towards the implementation of sustainable, climate-resilient solutions keeping in focus the horizontal and sectoral integration. It will offer a roadmap for incorporating urban climate change knowledge into local area plans and strengthening planning mechanisms to address urban challenges and achieve sustainable development. In line with this, the associated event aims to disseminate learnings from selected best practices, facilitate experience sharing among cities in the Global South, particularly in Africa and South Asia, and explore ways to enhance technical capacities and knowledge for comprehensive, long-term climate-resilient urban planning. The session will conclude with the formal launch of the knowledge product, providing cities with a valuable resource for climate-integrated urban planning.