Published cover of Urban Climate Adaptation
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Urban Climate Adaptation

Planning, Governance, and Investment for Resilient Cities

Robert C. Brears

ISBN 978-1-991367-10-5 · Global Climate Solutions · First Edition
Overview

Knowledge for practical climate action.

Heat, flooding, and service failures become citywide crises when risks cross institutional boundaries. How can cities turn adaptation commitments into decisions that protect people over time?

Urban Climate Adaptation helps municipal leaders, planners, infrastructure managers, and policy researchers connect evidence with implementation. Robert C. Brears examines how risk assessment, public responsibilities, and investment choices can make adaptation a continuing city function.

Learn to assess dependencies across essential services, weigh land use and housing choices, and evaluate nature-based measures alongside infrastructure priorities. Examine participation and equity criteria that reveal who receives protection, who faces barriers, and where interventions can create new burdens.

The book also connects appraisal with municipal budgets, procurement, maintenance, and monitoring. Readers gain a clearer basis for selecting priorities, assigning accountability, and revising pathways as conditions change. Use its analytical framework to build adaptation capability across institutions, neighborhoods, and long-lived urban systems.

What you’ll learn

A framework for informed decisions and accountable action.

  1. 01

    Assess interacting climate hazards, unequal exposure, vulnerability, and dependencies across urban systems.

  2. 02

    Align adaptation responsibilities, participation, and accountability across municipal departments and levels of government.

  3. 03

    Evaluate land use, housing, infrastructure, and nature-based options against service needs and future climate conditions.

  4. 04

    Use equity criteria to identify access barriers, displacement risks, and unintended adaptation burdens.

  5. 05

    Connect adaptation investment appraisal to municipal budgets, procurement, maintenance, and delivery capacity.

  6. 06

    Design monitoring thresholds, evaluation records, and adaptation pathways that support revision as conditions change.

Inside the book

Contents

View the full contents 11 sections
  1. Introduction

    Why Urban Adaptation Must Become a Core City Function

  2. 01

    Understanding Urban Climate Risk and Adaptation

  3. 02

    Governing Adaptation Across Urban Institutions

  4. 03

    Planning Land Use and the Built Environment for Climate Resilience

  5. 04

    Adapting Urban Infrastructure and Essential Services

  6. 05

    Nature-Based and Ecosystem Approaches in Cities

  7. 06

    Advancing Equitable and Inclusive Adaptation

  8. 07

    Financing and Delivering Urban Adaptation

  9. 08

    Data, Metrics, and Adaptive Management

  10. 09

    Building Adaptation Pathways for Urban Futures

  11. Conclusion

    Making Adaptation a Durable Urban Capability

Who it’s for

For readers turning evidence into action.

Municipal leaders and adaptation programme managers

Officials connecting climate risk to institutional responsibilities, public decisions, and implementation.

Urban planners and housing professionals

Practitioners assessing land use, building conditions, affordability, and equitable spatial development.

Infrastructure and public-service managers

Teams prioritizing resilient assets, essential-service continuity, and long-term maintenance.

Municipal finance and investment professionals

Decision-makers aligning adaptation appraisal, capital planning, funding, and procurement.

Community organizations and climate policy researchers

Readers examining participation, justice, evidence, and accountability in urban adaptation.

About the author
Robert C. Brears speaking at an event

Robert C. Brears

Robert C. Brears is the founder and editor-in-chief of Global Climate Solutions. His work connects climate resilience, water security, nature-based solutions, sustainable finance and the transition to more resilient cities and industries.

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Book details

Publication information.

Format
EPUB · Paperback
Edition
First Edition
Publication
2026
Publisher
Global Climate Solutions
eBook ISBN
978-1-991367-10-5
Paperback ISBN
978-1-991367-11-2
Language
English
Key themes

Explore the subject.

Interdependent urban climate riskInstitutional accountabilityEquitable adaptationNature-based urban assetsMunicipal financeAdaptive pathways
Published cover of Urban Climate Adaptation
Read the book

Urban Climate Adaptation

The book also connects appraisal with municipal budgets, procurement, maintenance, and monitoring. Readers gain a clearer basis for selecting priorities, assigning accountability, and revising pathways as conditions change. Use its analytical framework to build adaptation capability across institutions, neighborhoods, and long-lived urban systems.

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