Browsing by Author "McMillan, Joanna M."

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Open Access
Flood resilience assessment from the perspective of urban (in)formality in Surat, India : implications for sustainable development
(2023) Jamshed, Ali; Patel, Chirag; Puriya, Anshul; Iqbal, Nimra; Rana, Irfan Ahmad; McMillan, Joanna M.; Pandey, Rajiv; Altaf, Shahbaz; Mehmood, Rana Tahir; Saad, Umair bin
Urbanization has resulted in increasing the pace of informality, specifically in developing countries like India. Informality is taking place at locations that are exposed to various hazards, and therefore, resilience building of both informal and formal settlements is needed to achieve sustainable development. Resilience assessment is key in defining appropriate area-specific resilience measures. Given that, this research assesses the resilience of formal and informal settlements of Surat city in India and presents implications for sustainable development. To assess resilience, an indicator-based approach was taken, using a household survey to collect the data. Analysis suggests that the resilience of formal and informal settlements is significantly different. Key differences were found in physical and institutional resilience, where informal settlements were found to be significantly less resilient than formal settlements. Several measures, such as gender-sensitive education and livelihood programs, as well as mobile water and sanitation, have positive implications for sustainable development. Overall, the study can guide disaster managers and policy makers to adopt a strategic and more targeted approach to strengthen resilience and achieve sustainable development.
Open Access
Global vulnerability hotspots : differences and agreement between international indicator-based assessments
(2021) Feldmeyer, Daniel; Birkmann, Joern; McMillan, Joanna M.; Stringer, Lindsay; Leal Filho, Walter; Djalante, Riyanti; Pinho, Patricia F.; Liwenga, Emma
Climate change impacts and their consequences are determined not only by the intensity and frequency of different climatic hazards but also by the vulnerability of the system, society or community exposed. While general agreement exists about the importance of assessing vulnerability to understand climate risks, there is still a tendency to neglect global and regional vulnerability patterns because they are hard to quantify, despite their value in informing adaptation, disaster risk and development policies. Several approaches to quantifying global vulnerability exist. These differ in terms of the indicators they use and how they classify countries or regions into vulnerability classes. The paper presents the structure of selected approaches and explores two indices in depth. The aim of this paper is to assess the level of agreement between selected international indicator-based assessments of vulnerability, at the level of climate regions. Results suggest that the two major global vulnerability assessments analysed largely agree on the location of the most and least vulnerable regions when these assessments are aggregated to a regional scale using the IPCC’s climate regions. The paper then discusses the robustness of the information derived and its usefulness for adaptation, disaster risk and development policies. Measuring progress towards reducing vulnerability to climate change and hazards is key for various agencies and actors in order to be able to develop informed policies and strategies for managing climate risks and to promote enabling conditions for achieving the SDGs and building resilience.
Open Access
Spatial planning and systems thinking tools for climate risk reduction : a case study of the Andaman Coast, Thailand
(2022) McMillan, Joanna M.; Birkmann, Joern; Tangwanichagapong, Siwaporn; Jamshed, Ali
The impact of climate change and related hazards such as floods, heatwaves, and sea level rise on human lives, cities, and their hinterlands depends not only on the nature of the hazard, but also on urban development, adaptation, and other socioeconomic processes that determine vulnerability and exposure. Spatial planning can reduce climate risk not just by influencing the exposure, but also by addressing social vulnerability. This requires that relevant information is available to planners and that plans are implemented and coordinated between sectors. This article is based on a research project in Thailand, particularly on the results of multi-sectoral workshops in the case study region of the Andaman Coast in southern Thailand, and draws upon climate risk, spatial planning, and systems thinking discourses. The article formulates recommendations for planning in the context of Thailand that are relevant for other rapidly growing and urbanizing regions. Among other conclusions, it suggests that systems thinking approaches and cross-sectoral strategies are ways to grasp the interdependencies between and within climate risk and spatial development challenges.