The effectiveness of global climate agendas, such as the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), depends on how they are translated into action on the ground. Yet little is known about how these frameworks reach informal settlements in the global South, where climate risks are most acute, and state presence is uneven. Drawing on multi-sited fieldwork in informal settlements in Ghana, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic, this article shows that climate action in these contexts unfolds largely outside the influence of the Paris Agreement and the SDGs. Across all three sites, residents and community leaders had limited knowledge of these global agendas, and local responses to climate impacts emerge instead from everyday negotiations with risk, scarcity and institutional neglect. Although community organisations demonstrate significant adaptive capacity, their efforts remain constrained by insecure tenure, funding exclusion and territorial stigma. The article argues that the limited reach of global frameworks reflects a deeper structural misalignment between climate governance architectures and the sociopolitical realities of informality. Meaningful localisation therefore requires institutional recognition, accessible financing and the co-production of climate strategies with the non-state actors already shaping adaptation on the ground. By identifying the mechanisms that inhibit localisation and highlighting grassroots agency, this study advances debates on climate justice, urban informality and multilevel climate governance.
Communities living in informal settlements face significant challenges, including poor housing, limited access to basic services and increased exposure to climate risks such as floods and heatwaves. Collaboration and public participation are increasingly recognised as critical for effective climate governance. However, the extent to which people living or working in informal settlements are meaningfully included in these efforts remains unclear. This study presents a systematic review of 25 peer-reviewed articles that met our inclusion criteria from 281 studies (published 2010–2025) using the PRISMA framework to examine how informal actors are integrated into climate adaptation planning in African cities. The findings highlight approaches such as citizen science, digital storytelling, asset-based community development, inclusive infrastructure upgrading and inclusive governance processes, which can empower informal settlement residents. However, challenges persist in implementing these approaches and in influencing decision-making beyond implementation phases, which include power imbalances, lack of secure tenure for actors living in informal settlements, and limited access to formal governance spaces. Based on these findings, the study proposes approaches that can improve the participation of local-level actors in climate governance towards inclusive and climate-resilient African cities.
This study maps and analyses peer-reviewed evidence from 2015 to 2024 on climate change impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation in South African informal settlements. The review is based on a sample of 23 studies from 1,282 studies that met the review inclusion criteria. The findings reveal that informal settlements are exposed to various climate hazards, with flooding, droughts and heat being the most documented. These hazards interact with infrastructure deficits and socio-economic and institutional factors to increase the vulnerability and limit the adaptive capacity of residents of informal settlements. Reported adaptation actions were mostly structural, involving physical changes to structures and systems to mitigate climate effects, and behavioural, with only one study reporting the use of nature-based solutions. Actors involved in climate adaptation operate at the household, community and city levels. Adaptation actions have been reported to be effective in improving safety and comfort, reducing biodiversity loss and improving energy efficiency in informal settlements. However, lack of funding and political will, and participation in decision-making and resource allocation are among the barriers to adaptation. These findings collectively highlight the urgent need for systemic, inclusive, scalable and sustainable adaptation solutions for informal settlements in South Africa.
Urban living labs (ULLs) are increasingly recognised as strategic sites for experimentation in sustainability transitions. However, in sites of informality and complex urban governance, their transformative potential remains under-examined. Based on assemblage and actor-network theory, this article develops a framework to explore how ULLs reconfigure actor networks, affective relations and circulations of knowledge. Drawing on case studies in Ajmer, India, and Durban, South Africa, we examine how ULLs foster self-organisation and mediate new forms of authority and influence. In Ajmer, chronic water insecurity catalysed slow, trust-based collaboration among women’s groups, universities and municipalities. In Durban, major floods led to the scaling of a community-based flood early warning system through horizontal peer exchange. Despite contextual differences, both cases reveal the importance of mediators, inscription devices and affective intensity in enabling urban transformation. We argue for an expanded view of ULLs as affective-material assemblages capable of producing contingent, relational and plural futures through iterative, non-linear pathways of change.
This article explores the intersection of urban informality and climate change through the lens of Care-centred governance. Drawing on grounded experiences from Córdoba, Argentina, and Nakuru County, Kenya, as well as insights from international networks including United Cities and Local Governments, Cities Alliance and Slum Dwellers International, the article argues that informal settlements are not merely sites of vulnerability but also spaces of innovation, resilience and political agency. By reframing informality as a structural and permanent condition of urbanisation, the study highlights how Care, understood as both a policy framework and a political ethic, can guide more inclusive, equitable climate responses. The article analyses how community-led Care systems, particularly those driven by women and marginalised groups, offer scalable models for adaptation in fragile urban contexts. It further examines how global climate frameworks, particularly the emerging loss and damage agenda, can better incorporate informal settlements by acknowledging their double exposure to climate risks and institutional neglect. Ultimately, the article calls for a multilevel governance approach that empowers local governments and communities to co-produce solutions rooted in dignity, solidarity and sustainability.
Informal settlements across the global South face escalating climate risks, entrenched energy poverty and deep spatial inequalities. This article examines how decentralised solar energy can enhance climate resilience and advance energy justice in these contexts, drawing on a comparative analysis of Dharavi (India), Rocinha (Brazil) and Diepsloot (South Africa), and an empirical survey from Lephalale (South Africa). A systematic evidence-mapping review was conducted across major academic databases and grey-literature sources, followed by qualitative cross-case comparison. The study sites were selected as cases based on their high informality, climate exposure, energy poverty and documented decentralised solar initiatives. The survey in Lephalale focused on energy inequality, coal dependence, governance participation and attitudes towards renewable energy. Findings show that decentralised solar systems can improve safety, affordability and local resilience and can challenge forms of ‘energy apartheid’, but their transformative potential depends on inclusive governance, pro-poor financing, long-term maintenance arrangements and strong intermediary organisations. Successful projects emerge where communities co-design, co-own or co-manage systems, supported by federations, cooperatives or grassroots networks. The article concludes that decentralised solar solutions must be embedded within justice-oriented urban and energy policies that address underlying structural inequalities, recognise informal settlements as legitimate urban spaces and institutionalise community participation.
The access to building materials in informal settlements impacts housing resilience and sustainability. This article presents research conducted with Slum Dwellers International’s (SDI) affiliates in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Harare, Zimbabwe, exploring the governance conditions that enable or constrain the value chain of building materials, and how these conditions shape access to more affordable, resilient and sustainable housing. Through a co-produced methodology, the research identifies three dimensions that intersect with the decision-making around building materials in informal settlements: tenure and risk thresholds; livelihoods and hazards; and infrastructure and poverty penalties. Based on these findings, the article reflects how access to more sustainable materials in informal settlements can be promoted, while ensuring a fairer distribution of climate change burdens and responsibilities. It highlights governance rather than purely technology solutions, prioritises immediate action for slum upgrading, and acknowledges the existence of trade-offs to the advancement of climate justice. This article brings to the forefront the experiences of informal settlement dwellers and a justice perspective into current debates about decarbonising the construction industry in global South cities.
The global South faces increasing challenges due to climate change. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey, 2024, home-based handicraft artisan workers are a part of the 23.5 per cent of self-employed women workers in India. These women artisans face increased climate risks that intersect with social, spatial and economic challenges, impacting their overall well-being. Ahmedabad district, located in Gujarat in western India, home to Abodana Cooperative, is estimated to suffer through a fivefold increase in heat waves in the next five years. Therefore, the study investigates the intersection of gender, informal work and climate risk at Abodana Cooperative to understand the added vulnerabilities of extreme heat. The findings contribute to the much-needed empirical research that brings evidence from the grassroots for urban India. It reveals how the built environment, gendered barriers to mobility and improper urban infrastructure intensify the climate vulnerabilities for the Abodana Cooperative. It lays the groundwork for co-creating climate-resilient strategies catering to the requirements of the Abodana Cooperative and advocates for the inclusion of home-based workers, such as women artisans, in climate action frameworks.
Rising global temperatures and rapid urbanisation have intensified heat stress exposure in informal settlements across Asia and Africa, where vulnerable populations face significant thermal comfort challenges due to inadequate housing conditions and limited adaptive capacity. This systematic evidence mapping study aims to identify, analyse and synthesise existing evidence on heat stress adaptation strategies implemented in informal settlements across Asia and Africa. A systematic search was conducted across Scopus and Web of Science databases using structured search strings related to heat stress, thermal comfort and cooling interventions in informal settlements in Asia and Africa. Data extraction focused on study characteristics, adaptation interventions, effectiveness measures in improving thermal comfort and reducing health risks, and barriers to implementation. The evidence mapping revealed diverse adaptation strategies, including reflective roofing, natural ventilation, air conditioning, tree planting, green walls and building modifications implemented by various actors such as communities, non-governmental organisations, local governments and international organisations. Effectiveness was primarily measured through indoor temperature reduction and instrumentation-based thermal comfort assessment. Financial barriers, particularly affordability issues, emerged as the most significant implementation constraint, followed by institutional barriers, including policy gaps and weak governance. While multiple heat stress adaptation strategies show promise for improving thermal comfort in informal settlements, implementation remains constrained by financial, institutional, social, technical and environmental barriers. This evidence mapping highlights critical research gaps and the need for context-specific, affordable and community-driven adaptation solutions tailored to the unique vulnerabilities of informal settlement populations.
This article offers a theoretical intervention on emerging patterns of climate-related mobility and peri-urban transformation in Southern Africa. While it is not an empirically representative study, the analytical intervention is informed by a sustained field engagement with the dynamics of climate change adaptation in peri-urban settlements in South Africa, as well as recent engagements in Mozambique and Malawi. First, the article argues that climate change is reshaping urbanisation processes not only through direct climate-induced displacement but also through indirect pressures that reorganise livelihoods, living costs and spatial inequalities. Second, it illustrates that these dynamics are producing a distinct peri-urban turn, in which urban peripheries function as secondary climate margins. They are adaptive yet uneven spaces shaped by historical legacies, infrastructural differentiation and emerging diversities. Ultimately, by reframing climate-related adaptations as a significant driver of urban and peri-urban reconfiguration, the article provides a critical lens for understanding urban futures in Southern Africa and the global South more broadly.
This article examines the spatial intersection between urban informality and climate risk in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro, focusing on the vulnerability of informal populations to flooding, landslides and sea-level rise. Drawing on the most recent census data and spatial analysis, the study employs the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics’ urban concentration framework to assess intra-metropolitan disparities, highlighting the concentration of informal settlements in environmentally fragile zones. The analysis reveals a strong correlation between informal urban occupation and susceptibility to climate-related hazards. Subdistricts with high percentages of informal population also exhibit elevated exposure to floods and landslides, particularly in areas of steep slopes or low-lying coastal zones. By combining empirical data with theoretical perspectives from urban political ecology and environmental justice, the article argues for the centrality of informality in shaping climate adaptation strategies. The study calls for integrated metropolitan governance, spatial justice and participatory planning as essential components of climate resilience in the global South.
City climate action plans (CAPs) in India remain constrained by institutional, financial and governance challenges. A concern is the marginalisation of vulnerable groups, particularly informal settlements and workers, raising questions about equity and the transformative potential of CAPs. This article examines the first generation of CAPs in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai. It adopts a qualitative research design, combining structured textual analysis of CAPs with semi-structured key informant interviews. The analysis reveals how informal settlements and informal workers are identified and prioritised across plan structures, participatory processes and proposed sectoral actions. To foreground alternative pathways, the article also examines select Community-CAPs emerging as forms of practice-based counter-planning. The findings reveal that CAPs acknowledge the vulnerability of informal settlements—and, to a lesser extent, informal workers—but rarely translate into rights-based adaptation strategies. Yet, CAPs have opened a limited but significant potential for longer-term institutional change. The article argues that CAPs may enable localised and tactical forms of inclusion that statutory planning frameworks struggle to accommodate, including pilots, ward-level engagement and co-production through Community-CAPs. The article calls for an India-specific climate action framework that centres informality, equity and justice; strengthens decentralisation; and positions urban local bodies as leaders of inclusive climate governance.
Informality and climate risks are defining features of urban life in the global South. This study explores the relationship between willingness to accept (WTA) and willingness to pay (WTP) for green infrastructure as indicators of its acceptability and economic viability for climate resilience in an informal African urban context. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted in Ajegunle, a major informal settlement in Lagos, Nigeria. Findings show that older, more educated and higher-income residents were more inclined to support green infrastructure. Both high WTA and WTP reflect strong perceived climate vulnerability and entrenched informality. WTP exceeded WTA, yet both showed a significant positive correlation, suggesting perceived value and feasibility. The study finds that socio-demographic and perceptual factors shape behavioural intentions, with urban informality exerting more influence than climate vulnerability. To boost adoption, strategies must include education, participatory planning and socio-economic empowerment to bridge the gap between willingness and real engagement.
This study explores the impacts of heatwaves in urban informal settlements in India and examines the resilience strategies adopted to mitigate these effects. Using a systematic review process aligned with PRISMA guidelines, it synthesises evidence from 24 selected peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2024, sourced from Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and Google Scholar. Studies were screened based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, with quality assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) framework. Key variables, including vulnerability factors, health and livelihood outcomes, and adaptive responses, were extracted and synthesised. The findings indicate that heatwaves increase mortality and morbidity, with the most vulnerable groups, including the elderly, women, children, informal workers and migrants, being disproportionately affected. Common health effects include dehydration, heat stress, cardiovascular problems and mental health disorders. Livelihood disruptions were severe among informal workers, leading to income loss and food and housing insecurity. The review identifies localised resilience strategies such as cool roofs, awareness campaigns and informal social support networks, although their implementation remains inconsistent. The study emphasises the urgent need for inclusive heat action plans, targeted health interventions and participatory governance to strengthen adaptive capacity among at-risk urban populations.
This article analyses local Climate Action Plans (CAPs) in Peru. It identifies the factors that affect their implementation at the city level and highlights the roles of architects and urban planners in their development. It follows capacity-building activities for local governments carried out by a joint initiative by two Peruvian universities—Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (School of Environmental Engineering) in 2022, and the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería (Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism, and Arts) in 2023—which engaged around 200 officials from 37 local governments. The Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) National Strategy in Peru (2022–2024) had the goal of promoting CAPs through local governments. This goal is analysed by its achievements, limitations and evolution over time. The methodology combined an online survey with three case studies based on structured interviews with local officials. Architects and urban planners are pivotal in putting CAPs into practice, yet their potential is often limited within the context of informal practices, weak institutional capacity and scarce resources. The capacity for effective CAP implementation is stronger where formal processes, financial support and public demand converge, and weaker where dependency on external funding and structural gaps persist. In the most fragile cases, the absence of political, technical and financial support can undermine even the most committed initiatives.
Cities constitute sites of climate vulnerability, especially marginalised urban locations like informal settlements. Yet there appears to be an inverse connection between climate vulnerability and governing responsibility. Marginalised urban settlements remain excluded from decisions and subsequently responses that inform and define climate adaptation agendas. This article deploys literature on multi-scalar governance and an adaptive governance framing as theoretical scaffolding to build a case for climate resilience hubs as alternative innovative climate change governance platforms. The article shifts focus from the frequently studied large cities to consider climate resilience hubs from two secondary cities, Bulawayo and Kariba, in Zimbabwe, where climate resilience hubs have been implemented by Slum Dwellers International (SDI) affiliates. The study deploys a qualitative approach and makes two broad arguments. Climate resilience hubs constitute innovative and adaptive governance spaces that facilitate bottom-up engagements with both state and non-state actors, creating the scope for informing and influencing locally led climate actions. Pre-existing social infrastructure associated with SDI processes and practices provides critical institutional machinery for driving climate resilience hubs.
This article explores strategies to improve livelihoods in Kigali’s peri-urban areas by utilising the valuable knowledge and adaptive strategies of residents. Through the framework of knowledge co-creation, it examines peri-urban residents’ livelihoods, identifies potential threats posed by urban growth and evaluates resident-driven projects for livelihood improvement. The study was conducted in three peri-urban administrative sectors—Bumbogo, Mageragere and Gahanga—representing the three districts of Kigali. A mixed-methods participatory action research design was employed, and data were collected from 99 participants, who were selected using reputational and snowball sampling techniques. Through the data collection process, residents were supported in ideating and implementing 30 distinct projects to support their livelihood. The effectiveness of these projects was analysed through field evaluations and interviews with participants. The findings revealed that the majority of the residents were dissatisfied with the quality of life in peri-urban areas. However, the study also showed that within four months of project implementation, the beneficiaries reported greater potential to improve living conditions through savings and diverse urban economic activities. The article concludes that knowledge co-creation is an effective approach in helping residents cope with rapid urban changes.
Formally trained architects in India participate in building habitation for less than 10 per cent of the Indian population. Even with such small participation, they are unable to provide just spatial configurations that do not perpetuate segregation and discrimination on the basis of class, caste and gender. On the other hand, most inhabitations across the country are built through small contractors involving various kinds of incremental developments. This form too has perpetuated discrimination and segregation and is often built poorly due to low quality construction, planning and infrastructure, affecting the dignity of life of its inhabitants. The ecosystem of architectural education in India is structurally, institutionally and pedagogically unable to address issues related to spatial justice. While it is structurally located within a political economy where education is a money-making enterprise, it is institutionally geared to reduce academia to educational organisations and pedagogically oriented to prepare students for the mainstream building industry. This ecosystem has historically evolved to produce an institutionalisation that is made to feed the formal building industry, dominated by the building of habitation and other structures for the elite or by real-estate developers.
Due to largely opaque processes of consumption and production in urbanised spaces, the dependence of humans on food ecosystems is largely invisibilised. To counter this challenge, a growing awareness about industrial food production and consumption patterns along with a need to create alternatives has given rise to a range of small-scale food-growing initiatives in urban areas. This study focuses on urban spaces in seven Indian cities to examine how alternative, localised practices—such as urban gardening—can foster civic participation and promote relational well-being. Based on a qualitative study involving growers’ narratives, we argue that urban gardening can nurture a generative space to meaningfully engage with the local socio-ecological systems. Drawing on Soja’s concept of ‘Thirdspace’, the study explores ways in which the gardening space serves as a hybrid site embedding growers’ evolving imagination and negotiated meaning of cultivated spaces. The study characterises ways in which community gardening can be an educational, social practice to bridge personal motivations with political commitments aligned with ecological sustainability.
