This glossary covers frequently used terms and their definitions related to the field of disaster... more This glossary covers frequently used terms and their definitions related to the field of disaster risk reduction. Considering that this is still an evolving field, this glossary brings together most recent and previous definitions of key terms sourced from UNDRR, IPCC, World Bank and other peer reviewed literature over the last three decades
Afterwards is an anthology of visual narratives of disaster impacts and the process of recovery t... more Afterwards is an anthology of visual narratives of disaster impacts and the process of recovery that follows. These stories were drawn from the testimonies of disaster-affected individuals, households, and communities documented between 2018-19 from the Indian states of Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. They communicate challenges related to housing resettlement, loss of livelihoods, gender-based exclusion among others. At the heart of this anthology lies the idea of ‘representation’: how are those affected portrayed by the media, state actors, official documents; how are their needs represented and how do these portrayals impact the lives of those at risk and shape their recovery? Graphically illustrating these themes provides a platform to relay personal experiences of disaster risk and recovery.
The campaign for the inclusion of a specifically urban goal within the United Nations’ Sustainabl... more The campaign for the inclusion of a specifically urban goal within the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was challenging. Numerous divergent interests were involved, while urban areas worldwide are also extremely heterogeneous. It was essential to minimize the number of targets and indicators while still capturing critical urban dimensions relevant to human development. It was also essential to test the targets and indicators. This paper reports the findings of a unique comparative pilot project involving co-production between researchers and local authority officials in five diverse secondary and intermediate cities: Bangalore (Bengaluru), India; Cape Town, South Africa; Gothenburg, Sweden; Greater Manchester, United Kingdom; and Kisumu, Kenya. Each city faced problems in providing all the data required, and each also proposed various changes to maximize the local relevance of particular targets and indicators. This reality check provided invaluable inputs to the...
Abstract In post-disaster recovery planning, participation of disaster affected persons (DAPs) is... more Abstract In post-disaster recovery planning, participation of disaster affected persons (DAPs) is critical for effective identification of their recovery needs. However, DAPs rarely have the opportunity to represent their needs and shape their recovery, and even rarer are avenues that are not arbitrated by other actors. One amongst the limited avenues for participation available to them is litigation. While studies have explored the role of litigation in ensuring social justice and advancing rights, litigation as a mode of participation in post-disaster recovery and more broadly, disaster risk reduction is less explored. Given this gap, we assess how effectively litigation can serve as a platform for participation in the context of representing post-disaster recovery needs of affected people. We situate this study in Odisha, India. First, drawing on primary fieldwork conducted in 2019 in coastal districts of Odisha which have been impacted by cyclones over the last two decades, we document the stated recovery needs as expressed by the DAPs. Second, we examine cases filed by DAPs in the High Court of Orissa over the last two decades. We then compare the ‘expressed needs’ with those for which people have litigated, to understand the extent to which litigation allows DAPs to represent their needs and the challenges with this mode of participation. We argue that while litigation is envisioned to be a democratic form of participation, its use is currently restricted by the framing of the governing laws and general lack of access to legal resources.
Cities are central to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, yet many remain dise... more Cities are central to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, yet many remain disengaged from the process. This paper examines nine city and subnational pilot projects conducted between 2015 and 2019, to assess the role of a data-based approach to governance in improving decision-making for sustainable development. We consider to what extent a data-based approach to governance can help cities in (a) localizing the sustainable development goals (SDGs); (b) integrating national and local datasets; (c) increasing openness of data and enabling better accountability for outcomes; and (d) encouraging innovation in data gathering. We find that data is considered a useful entry point for local sustainable development conversations and employing a focus on data management is welcomed by nearly all local governments, however, few localities explicitly focus on data to improve their sustainable development outcomes. Critically, despite the excitement around big data, most cities...
The relevance of urban heritage today can be assessed not just in its aesthetic and historical va... more The relevance of urban heritage today can be assessed not just in its aesthetic and historical value but also economically through the generation of employment, the growth of tourism as well as other direct and indirect incomes generated by it. This production through tangible and intangible means further highlights the inter-linkages between the built form and the economic fabric of cities. However, competing claims for limited land coupled with changing urban political economies often end up requiring heritage to continuously struggle to justify its significance. It is in this context, assessing the economic value of urban heritage becomes particularly important in order to understand its impacts and the consequent benefits generated by it. Methodologies for conducting heritage impact assessments remain limited in their applicability and approach due to origins in developed economies. Urban heritage in India requires an approach capable of capturing the multiple layers in its economy, particularly with respect to the informal. This paper presents preliminary findings of a heritage impact assessment conducted on two sites in the city of Jaipur. Primary fieldwork was conducted at the Jantar Mantar and the old market area of the city using the ‘Direct & Indirect Impact’ method under a macroeconomic approach. The method’s original framework was adapted to the specific context through the addition of questions and observations pertaining to the economic, social and human costs generated. It evaluated the economic value of these two sites through the direct and indirect impacts generated via the sale and production of goods, arts and crafts. Application of the method helped unearth significant economic value that could be an effective support for arguing to conserve urban heritage.
We contend that the representational aspects of recovery play an important but under-researched r... more We contend that the representational aspects of recovery play an important but under-researched role in shaping long-term outcomes for disaster-affected populations. Ideas constructed around events, people and processes, and conveyed through discussion, texts and images, are seldom neutral and can be exclusionary in their effect. This review draws insights from literature across multiple disciplines to examine how the representation of needs, roles and approaches to recovery influences the support different social groups receive, their capacities to recover, and their rights and agency. It shows how these representations can be contested and challenged, often by disaster-affected people themselves, and calls for increased attention on how to move creatively towards more informed, inclusive and supportive recovery visions and processes.
Resettlement undertaken with the objective of reducing disaster risk often narrowly focuses only ... more Resettlement undertaken with the objective of reducing disaster risk often narrowly focuses only on reducing hazard exposure. However, when resettlements are analyzed from the perspective of holistic development outcomes, including livelihood conditions, health implications, social cohesion and employment opportunities, they are often found to be lacking. Apart from this contrast between considerations of disaster risk and everyday socio-economic risks at the household or settlement level, resettlement programs also lack a clear focus on achieving wider regional development goals including poverty reduction, economic growth and environmental protection. This relates to the sectorization of attitudes to disaster risk and the lack of integration with development concerns across multiple actors involved. This paper offers an approach: (1) to systematize costs and benefits; and using these (2) to assess policy alternatives that could maximize the beneficial outcomes for the resettlement...
This glossary covers frequently used terms and their definitions related to the field of disaster... more This glossary covers frequently used terms and their definitions related to the field of disaster risk reduction. Considering that this is still an evolving field, this glossary brings together most recent and previous definitions of key terms sourced from UNDRR, IPCC, World Bank and other peer reviewed literature over the last three decades
Afterwards is an anthology of visual narratives of disaster impacts and the process of recovery t... more Afterwards is an anthology of visual narratives of disaster impacts and the process of recovery that follows. These stories were drawn from the testimonies of disaster-affected individuals, households, and communities documented between 2018-19 from the Indian states of Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. They communicate challenges related to housing resettlement, loss of livelihoods, gender-based exclusion among others. At the heart of this anthology lies the idea of ‘representation’: how are those affected portrayed by the media, state actors, official documents; how are their needs represented and how do these portrayals impact the lives of those at risk and shape their recovery? Graphically illustrating these themes provides a platform to relay personal experiences of disaster risk and recovery.
The campaign for the inclusion of a specifically urban goal within the United Nations’ Sustainabl... more The campaign for the inclusion of a specifically urban goal within the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was challenging. Numerous divergent interests were involved, while urban areas worldwide are also extremely heterogeneous. It was essential to minimize the number of targets and indicators while still capturing critical urban dimensions relevant to human development. It was also essential to test the targets and indicators. This paper reports the findings of a unique comparative pilot project involving co-production between researchers and local authority officials in five diverse secondary and intermediate cities: Bangalore (Bengaluru), India; Cape Town, South Africa; Gothenburg, Sweden; Greater Manchester, United Kingdom; and Kisumu, Kenya. Each city faced problems in providing all the data required, and each also proposed various changes to maximize the local relevance of particular targets and indicators. This reality check provided invaluable inputs to the...
Abstract In post-disaster recovery planning, participation of disaster affected persons (DAPs) is... more Abstract In post-disaster recovery planning, participation of disaster affected persons (DAPs) is critical for effective identification of their recovery needs. However, DAPs rarely have the opportunity to represent their needs and shape their recovery, and even rarer are avenues that are not arbitrated by other actors. One amongst the limited avenues for participation available to them is litigation. While studies have explored the role of litigation in ensuring social justice and advancing rights, litigation as a mode of participation in post-disaster recovery and more broadly, disaster risk reduction is less explored. Given this gap, we assess how effectively litigation can serve as a platform for participation in the context of representing post-disaster recovery needs of affected people. We situate this study in Odisha, India. First, drawing on primary fieldwork conducted in 2019 in coastal districts of Odisha which have been impacted by cyclones over the last two decades, we document the stated recovery needs as expressed by the DAPs. Second, we examine cases filed by DAPs in the High Court of Orissa over the last two decades. We then compare the ‘expressed needs’ with those for which people have litigated, to understand the extent to which litigation allows DAPs to represent their needs and the challenges with this mode of participation. We argue that while litigation is envisioned to be a democratic form of participation, its use is currently restricted by the framing of the governing laws and general lack of access to legal resources.
Cities are central to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, yet many remain dise... more Cities are central to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, yet many remain disengaged from the process. This paper examines nine city and subnational pilot projects conducted between 2015 and 2019, to assess the role of a data-based approach to governance in improving decision-making for sustainable development. We consider to what extent a data-based approach to governance can help cities in (a) localizing the sustainable development goals (SDGs); (b) integrating national and local datasets; (c) increasing openness of data and enabling better accountability for outcomes; and (d) encouraging innovation in data gathering. We find that data is considered a useful entry point for local sustainable development conversations and employing a focus on data management is welcomed by nearly all local governments, however, few localities explicitly focus on data to improve their sustainable development outcomes. Critically, despite the excitement around big data, most cities...
The relevance of urban heritage today can be assessed not just in its aesthetic and historical va... more The relevance of urban heritage today can be assessed not just in its aesthetic and historical value but also economically through the generation of employment, the growth of tourism as well as other direct and indirect incomes generated by it. This production through tangible and intangible means further highlights the inter-linkages between the built form and the economic fabric of cities. However, competing claims for limited land coupled with changing urban political economies often end up requiring heritage to continuously struggle to justify its significance. It is in this context, assessing the economic value of urban heritage becomes particularly important in order to understand its impacts and the consequent benefits generated by it. Methodologies for conducting heritage impact assessments remain limited in their applicability and approach due to origins in developed economies. Urban heritage in India requires an approach capable of capturing the multiple layers in its economy, particularly with respect to the informal. This paper presents preliminary findings of a heritage impact assessment conducted on two sites in the city of Jaipur. Primary fieldwork was conducted at the Jantar Mantar and the old market area of the city using the ‘Direct & Indirect Impact’ method under a macroeconomic approach. The method’s original framework was adapted to the specific context through the addition of questions and observations pertaining to the economic, social and human costs generated. It evaluated the economic value of these two sites through the direct and indirect impacts generated via the sale and production of goods, arts and crafts. Application of the method helped unearth significant economic value that could be an effective support for arguing to conserve urban heritage.
We contend that the representational aspects of recovery play an important but under-researched r... more We contend that the representational aspects of recovery play an important but under-researched role in shaping long-term outcomes for disaster-affected populations. Ideas constructed around events, people and processes, and conveyed through discussion, texts and images, are seldom neutral and can be exclusionary in their effect. This review draws insights from literature across multiple disciplines to examine how the representation of needs, roles and approaches to recovery influences the support different social groups receive, their capacities to recover, and their rights and agency. It shows how these representations can be contested and challenged, often by disaster-affected people themselves, and calls for increased attention on how to move creatively towards more informed, inclusive and supportive recovery visions and processes.
Resettlement undertaken with the objective of reducing disaster risk often narrowly focuses only ... more Resettlement undertaken with the objective of reducing disaster risk often narrowly focuses only on reducing hazard exposure. However, when resettlements are analyzed from the perspective of holistic development outcomes, including livelihood conditions, health implications, social cohesion and employment opportunities, they are often found to be lacking. Apart from this contrast between considerations of disaster risk and everyday socio-economic risks at the household or settlement level, resettlement programs also lack a clear focus on achieving wider regional development goals including poverty reduction, economic growth and environmental protection. This relates to the sectorization of attitudes to disaster risk and the lack of integration with development concerns across multiple actors involved. This paper offers an approach: (1) to systematize costs and benefits; and using these (2) to assess policy alternatives that could maximize the beneficial outcomes for the resettlement...
India’s urban transition, a once in history phenomenon, has the potential to shift the country’s ... more India’s urban transition, a once in history phenomenon, has the potential to shift the country’s social, environmental, political, and economic trajectory. It could catalyse, the end of calorie poverty if post-1989 China is any example. It could deepen democracy and human development, leading to more Indians living longer, better quality and better educated lives. It could enable the transition to a less resource intensive development, with lower throughputs, footprints and nvironmental impacts that could reshape global trends because of India’s demographic and economic size. But these are only aspirations. Hard evidence indicates that much work needs to be done to realize these opportunities over the next twenty to thirty years.
Following the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, Tamil Nadu lost about 8,000 people and the lives and ... more Following the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, Tamil Nadu lost about 8,000 people and the lives and livelihoods of over 897,000 families were affected. In 2015, Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, was brought to a standstill by floods which killed 289 people, left 1,000 injured, and damaged property and livelihoods worth US$2.2 billion. These extreme events and others, such as the 2003–04 drought and the 2016 cyclones, mobilised humanitarian action from a range of actors in Chennai. This study examines how humanitarian responses and post-disaster relocations fit into the wider development vision of large and fast-growing metropolises such as Chennai.
After natural disasters, governments often relocate vulnerable urban communities in the name of h... more After natural disasters, governments often relocate vulnerable urban communities in the name of humanitarian relief. But urban communities rarely welcome such relocation, since it frequently exacerbates their daily challenges or creates new risks. Indeed, resettlement after a disaster is often another form of eviction. This briefing discusses the situation in Chennai, where state and local authorities have been building resettlement tenements on inland marsh areas using centrally sponsored schemes for affordable housing. These have been used as a ‘quick fix’ after disasters, but without addressing communities’ underlying needs and inequalities. Their siting has also increased flood risk across the urban area, creating new risks. Instead, India should develop participatory and risk-reducing plans and policies for relocation, and also help vulnerable communities address the risks where they currently live. This briefing is part of the project ‘Longterm implications of humanitarian responses: a case of Chennai’. The research was conducted in 2016 by the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) and Madras Institute for Development Studies (MIDS).
The relevance of urban heritage today can be assessed not just in its aesthetic and historical va... more The relevance of urban heritage today can be assessed not just in its aesthetic and historical value but also economically through the generation of employment, the growth of tourism as well as other direct and indirect incomes generated by it. This production through tangible and intangible means further highlights the inter-linkages between the built form and the economic fabric of cities. However, competing claims for limited land coupled with changing urban political economies often end up requiring heritage to continuously struggle to justify its significance.
It is in this context, assessing the economic value of urban heritage becomes particularly important in order to understand its impacts and the consequent benefits generated by it. Methodologies for conducting heritage impact assessments remain limited in their applicability and approach due to origins in developed economies. Urban heritage in India requires an approach capable of capturing the multiple layers in its economy, particularly with respect to the informal. This paper presents preliminary findings of a heritage impact assessment conducted on two sites in the city of Jaipur. Primary fieldwork was conducted at the Jantar Mantar and the old market area of the city using the ‘Direct & Indirect Impact’ method under a macroeconomic approach. The method’s original framework was adapted to the specific context through the addition of questions and observations pertaining to the economic, social and human costs generated. It evaluated the economic value of these two sites through the direct and indirect impacts generated via the sale and production of goods, arts and crafts. Application of the method helped unearth significant economic value that could be an effective support for arguing to conserve urban heritage.
The relevance of urban heritage today can be assessed not just in its aesthetic and historical va... more The relevance of urban heritage today can be assessed not just in its aesthetic and historical value but also economically through the generation of employment, the growth of tourism as well as other direct and indirect incomes generated by it. This production through tangible and intangible means further highlights the inter-linkages between the built form and the economic fabric of cities. However, competing claims for limited land coupled with changing urban political economies often end up requiring heritage to continuously struggle to justify its significance.
It is in this context, assessing the economic value of urban heritage becomes particularly important in order to understand its impacts and the consequent benefits generated by it. Methodologies for conducting heritage impact assessments remain limited in their applicability and approach due to origins in developed economies. Urban heritage in India requires an approach capable of capturing the multiple layers in its economy, particularly with respect to the informal. This paper presents preliminary findings of a heritage impact assessment conducted on two sites in the city of Jaipur. Primary fieldwork was conducted at the Jantar Mantar and the old market area of the city using the ‘Direct & Indirect Impact’ method under a macroeconomic approach. The method’s original framework was adapted to the specific context through the addition of questions and observations pertaining to the economic, social and human costs generated. It evaluated the economic value of these two sites through the direct and indirect impacts generated via the sale and production of goods, arts and crafts. Application of the method helped unearth significant economic value that could be an effective support for arguing to conserve urban heritage.
Cities on a Finite Planet: Transformative responses to climate change shows how cities can combin... more Cities on a Finite Planet: Transformative responses to climate change shows how cities can combine high quality living conditions, resilience to climate change, disaster risk reduction and contributions to mitigation/low carbon development. It also covers the current and potential contribution of cities to avoiding dangerous climate change and is the first book with an in-depth coverage of how cities and their governments, citizens and civil society organizations can combine these different agendas, based on careful city-level analyses.
The foundation for the book is detailed city case studies on Bangalore, Bangkok, Dar es Salaam, Durban, London, Manizales, Mexico City, New York and Rosario. Each of these was led by authors who contributed to the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment and are thus acknowledged as among the world’s top specialists in this field.
This book highlights where there is innovation and progress in cities and how this was achieved. Also where there is little progress and no action and where there is no capacity to act. It also assesses the extent to which cities can address the Sustainable Development Goals within commitments to also dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this, it highlights how much progress on these different agendas depends on local governments and their capacities to work with their low-income populations.
Urban India produces over 60 per cent of its GDP, with less than a third of its population. The u... more Urban India produces over 60 per cent of its GDP, with less than a third of its population. The urban informal sector at a quarter of total employment produces a quarter of India’s GDP making it as important in scale and contribution to the economy as the formal sector. Yet, the urban sector is deeply underinvested, has shallow human and institutional depth and urban poverty has historically had very limited political and policy attention. Urban poverty is multi-dimensional in scope; widening in numbers and deepening faster than rural poverty in India. Traditional uni-dimensional poverty reduction approaches that have had some success in rural India have and will fail in urban India. The governance, resources management, and risk mitigation frames have a strong rural emphasis – making change even more difficult. UNDP can lead in the creation of a new multi-dimensional and human development-centred entitlement framework and discourse to address urban poverty in the XII Plan. This will enable: significant increases in urban employment; the urban informal sector to grow faster and at higher productivity than the national economy; filling of institutional and knowledge gaps so that available resources and innovation can be deployed efficiently and scaled effectively. This would meet the inclusion, sustainability and growth imperatives of the Plan and help close structural gaps: between large villages and small towns; manufacturing and services-led development; rapidly developing and deeply vulnerable economic and social groups and regions.
Uploads
It is in this context, assessing the economic value of urban heritage becomes particularly important in order to understand its impacts and the consequent benefits generated by it. Methodologies for conducting heritage impact assessments remain limited in their applicability and approach due to origins in developed economies. Urban heritage in India requires an approach capable of capturing the multiple layers in its economy, particularly with respect to the informal. This paper presents preliminary findings of a heritage impact assessment conducted on two sites in the city of Jaipur. Primary fieldwork was conducted at the Jantar Mantar and the old market area of the city using the ‘Direct & Indirect Impact’ method under a macroeconomic approach. The method’s original framework was adapted to the specific context through the addition of questions and observations pertaining to the economic, social and human costs generated. It evaluated the economic value of these two sites through the direct and indirect impacts generated via the sale and production of goods, arts and crafts. Application of the method helped unearth significant economic value that could be an effective support for arguing to conserve urban heritage.
It is in this context, assessing the economic value of urban heritage becomes particularly important in order to understand its impacts and the consequent benefits generated by it. Methodologies for conducting heritage impact assessments remain limited in their applicability and approach due to origins in developed economies. Urban heritage in India requires an approach capable of capturing the multiple layers in its economy, particularly with respect to the informal. This paper presents preliminary findings of a heritage impact assessment conducted on two sites in the city of Jaipur. Primary fieldwork was conducted at the Jantar Mantar and the old market area of the city using the ‘Direct & Indirect Impact’ method under a macroeconomic approach. The method’s original framework was adapted to the specific context through the addition of questions and observations pertaining to the economic, social and human costs generated. It evaluated the economic value of these two sites through the direct and indirect impacts generated via the sale and production of goods, arts and crafts. Application of the method helped unearth significant economic value that could be an effective support for arguing to conserve urban heritage.
The foundation for the book is detailed city case studies on Bangalore, Bangkok, Dar es Salaam, Durban, London, Manizales, Mexico City, New York and Rosario. Each of these was led by authors who contributed to the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment and are thus acknowledged as among the world’s top specialists in this field.
This book highlights where there is innovation and progress in cities and how this was achieved. Also where there is little progress and no action and where there is no capacity to act. It also assesses the extent to which cities can address the Sustainable Development Goals within commitments to also dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this, it highlights how much progress on these different agendas depends on local governments and their capacities to work with their low-income populations.
Urban poverty is multi-dimensional in scope; widening in numbers and deepening faster than rural poverty in India. Traditional uni-dimensional poverty reduction approaches that have had some success in rural India have and will fail in urban India. The governance, resources management, and risk mitigation frames have a strong rural emphasis – making change even more difficult.
UNDP can lead in the creation of a new multi-dimensional and human development-centred entitlement framework and discourse to address urban poverty in the XII Plan. This will enable: significant increases in urban employment; the urban informal sector to grow faster and at higher productivity than the national economy; filling of institutional and knowledge gaps so that available resources and innovation can be deployed efficiently and scaled effectively. This would meet the inclusion, sustainability and growth imperatives of the Plan and help close structural gaps: between large villages and small towns; manufacturing and services-led development; rapidly developing and deeply vulnerable economic and social groups and regions.