IN-PERSON Barcelona Livable Cities. Section B

Abstract

This paper compares how Nairobi (Kenya), Cali (Colombia), and Pune (India) are responding to recurring urban flooding while pursuing more inclusive and climate-resilient futures. These rapidly urbanizing cities, all original members of the 100 Resilient Cities network, face overlapping challenges of climate-exacerbated rainfall, overstretched infrastructure, and spatial inequality. We investigate how resilience planning intersects with public space, infrastructure investment, and informal settlement governance. We conduct a comparative case study analysis using municipal plans, infrastructure documents, NGO reports, newspaper coverage, spatial data, and academic literature. Our interdisciplinary team (an anthropologist, historian, economist, and political scientist) applies textual, spatial, and policy analysis to examine how flood resilience is framed, justified, and implemented. We focus on how planning narratives construct risk, allocate resources, and shape the spatial futures of vulnerable communities. In Nairobi, infrastructure upgrades and relocation policies reshape riverbank settlements, while community-based green infrastructure initiatives emerge where formal planning is lacking. Cali’s levee reconstruction and resettlement program balances engineering goals with social protections. Pune employs early warning systems and nature-based solutions alongside contested riverfront development. We analyze how cities define resilience and how these definitions reflect political priorities. By tracing resilience strategies within landscapes of inequality, this paper contributes to debates about climate adaptation, infrastructure, and urban policy in regions facing intensifying climate risk. Keywords: urban flooding, climate resilience, informal settlements, infrastructure investment, spatial inequality, 100 Resilient Cities, comparative urbanism, Global South