Mitigating Climate Change Related Floods in Urban Poor Areas: Green Infrastructure Approach

Abstract. Natural disasters continue to hit urban areas worldwide, undermining community resilience capacity. The combination of increasing precipitation because of climate change, sea level rise, and uncontrolled rapid urbanization bring greater risk of flooding impacts in urban areas. Such flooding has a disproportionate effect on the urban poor, who often live in informal settlements. Meanwhile, the rapid expansion of informal settlements encroaching on floodplains that restrict the storage of flood waters and the expansion of impermeable urban surfaces also contribute to the increasing magnitude and frequency of flooding. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge the urban poor as the most vulnerable community and also as key party in mitigation efforts. Although mitigation measures are currently in place to lessen the impact of climate change related floods in urban poor areas, little attention has been given to the use of green infrastructure as a mitigation strategy. Hence, this study aimed to examine current practices of green infrastructure (GI) in urban poor areas of Kibera (Kenya), Madurai (India) and Old Fadama (Ghana) to mitigate climate related flood impacts. Using the multiple case study method, it was investigated how urban stakeholders address and overcome the critical issues of governance, finance and awareness to secure the success of GI implementation. It was found that GI requires comprehensive understanding of political, social, economic and environmental aspects of the urban poor population to secure the success of initiatives, while cohesive cooperation and full participation of urban stakeholders is the key.