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Adaptation, Climate Change
Anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change will seriously test our ability to plan and manage cities. Taken-for-granted urban institutions such as housing, industries, schools, hospitals, and transport systems will all likely be affected. Although the scale and intensity of impacts will vary, anticipated problems will have pernicious consequences, especially for the poor and politically disenfranchised. This article considers climate change adaptation concepts, issues, and responses. Beginning by briefly defining mitigation, adaptation, vulnerability, and resilience, this article identifies key players, provides examples of how some cities are already addressing threats, and discusses limitations to current adaptation practices.
With rising temperatures, heat waves will become more frequent and severe. Droughts, like this one in Louisiana, will threaten food and water supplies

Key Concepts
Four key concepts are central to how the ...
- City Organizations, Movements, and Planning
- Agenda 21
- Brownfields
- Carrying Capacity
- Charrette
- City Politics
- Civic Space
- Ecoindustrial Parks
- Environmental Impact Assessment
- Environmental Planning
- Green Communities and Neighborhood Planning
- Green Design, Construction and Operations
- Greenfield Sites
- Infrastructure
- Intermodal Transportation
- Millennium Development Goals
- Mitigation
- NIMBY
- Personal Rapid Transit
- Resilience
- Sustainability Indicators
- Sustainable Development
- Transit-Oriented Development
- Transportation Demand Management
- City Profiles
- Austin, Texas
- Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Barcelona, Spain
- Beijing, China
- Bogotá, Colombia
- Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Chernobyl, Ukraine
- Chicago, Illinois
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Curitiba, Brazil
- Dongtan, China
- Dzerzhinsk, Russia
- Hamburg, Germany
- Kabwe, Zambia
- Kampala, Uganda
- La Oroya, Peru
- Linfen, China
- London, England
- Los Angeles, California
- Malmö, Sweden
- Mexico City, Mexico
- New York City, New York
- Norilsk, Russia
- Portland, Oregon
- Reykjavik, Iceland
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- San Francisco, California
- Seattle, Washington
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Sukinda, India
- Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
- Sydney, Australia
- Tianying, China
- Vancouver, Canada
- Vapi, India
- Green City Challenges
- Adaptation, Climate Change
- Adaptive Reuse
- Air Quality
- Biodiversity
- Carbon Footprints
- Coastal Zone Management
- Combined Sewer Overflow
- Commuting
- Construction and Demolition Waste
- Denitrification
- Density
- Ecological Footprint
- Ecosystem Restoration
- Embodied Energy
- Energy Efficiency
- Environmental Justice
- Environmental Risk
- Food Deserts
- Food Security
- Garbage
- Greywater
- Gridlock
- Heat Island Effect
- Indoor Air Quality
- Landfills
- Light Pollution
- Natural Capital
- Nonpoint Source Pollution
- Ports
- Power Grids
- Recycling in Cities
- Sea Level Rise
- Stormwater Management
- Transit
- Waste Disposal
- Water Conservation
- Water Pollution
- Water Treatment
- Water, Sources and Delivery
- Watershed Protection
- Wetlands
- Green City Solutions
- Bicycling
- Biophilia
- Bioregion
- Bluebelts
- Bus Rapid Transit
- Carbon Neutral
- Carbon Trading
- Carpooling
- Cities for Climate Protection
- Citizen Participation
- Combined Heat and Power (Cogeneration)
- Community Gardens
- Compact Development (New Urbanism)
- Composting
- Congestion Pricing
- Conservation Subdivision
- Daylighting
- Distributed Generation
- District Energy
- Ecovillages
- Green Belt
- Green Energy
- Green Fleets (Vehicles)
- Green Housing
- Green Infrastructure
- Green Jobs
- Green Landscaping
- Green Procurement and Purchasing
- Green Roofs
- Greening Suburbia
- Greyfield Development
- Habitat Conservation and Restoration
- Healthy Cities
- Historic Preservation
- Infill Development
- LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
- Location-Efficient Mortgage
- Masdar Ecocity
- Mayors Climate Protection Agreement
- Parks, Greenways, and Open Space
- Renewable Energy
- Smart Growth
- Traffic Calming
- Universal Design
- Urban Agriculture
- Urban Forests
- Walkability (Pedestrian-Friendly Streets)
- Xeriscaping
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