Resilient and Sustainable Urban Infrastructure in the Global South: Strategies to Address Climate Change-Linked Vulnerabilities

Dillip Kumar Das
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Dillip Kumar Das: Civil Engineering, University of KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa

Urban Planning, 2025, vol. 10

Abstract: The impacts of climate change pose serious threats to the sustainability and resilience of urban infrastructure in the Global South, where socioeconomic, technical, and governance challenges intensify vulnerabilities in water, energy, and transport systems. This article explores these vulnerabilities through a literature review and case study analyses and identifies strategies for creating resilient and sustainable urban infrastructure in developing regions. The study highlights critical challenges such as ageing infrastructure, inadequate maintenance, insufficient funding, and rapid urbanisation, which increase the susceptibility of urban systems to climate‐related events like floods, droughts, and rising sea levels. Case studies from two countries reveal that the intersection of climate vulnerability with factors such as poor governance, socio‐political issues, and limited technological capacity further weakens infrastructure resilience. However, emerging strategies focus on climate‐resilient design, improved governance, strengthened public–private partnerships, and community‐based solutions. Integrating nature‐based solutions, smart technologies, and capacity‐building initiatives is vital in enhancing local governments’ adaptive capacity to enable the building of sustainable and resilient infrastructure. This article argues that while infrastructure vulnerabilities in the Global South are complex and rooted in historical inequalities, lack of technological competence and financial constraints, targeted strategies—centred on governance reform, climate‐resilient design and retrofitting, technological innovations and nature‐based solutions, strengthening public–private partnerships, community‐based solutions and capacity building—are essential for building resilient and sustainable urban infrastructure. These insights offer guidance for policymakers, planners, and development agencies working to strengthen critical infrastructure in vulnerable regions of the Global South.

Keywords: climate change; Global South; resilience; sustainability; sustainable urban infrastructure; urban infrastructure; vulnerability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10037

DOI: 10.17645/up.10037

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