Enabling Informal settlements to adapt to climate change impacts in as emerging priorities in scholarly, practice and policy debates. In this context, the study focussed on understanding the urbanisation, climate change, and informality nexus in selected urban poor settlements in Dharwad, the ensuing vulnerabilities arising out of this nexus, and the attendant coping mechanisms. Such an understanding revealed entry points to possible adaptation/ mitigation measures in the household, settlement, and settlement-city scales.

The project maps Dharwad’s informality to understand vulnerable pockets and clusters.

Focusing on a few clusters, the study foregrounds the significance of settlement level common spaces in urban poor settlements. Limited availability of private space makes these community commons multi-functional and dynamic. However, increased impacts of climate change –flooding, excessive heat, water scarcity, amongst others - are threatening these spaces, thus necessitating adaptive solutions and resilience strategies. The study presents a few illustrative examples of adaptive solutions in selected settlement areas. The project is supported by the FCDO and our partner in this engagement is the SELCO Foundation.