Urban Planning & City Solutions for Climate Mobility

As the impacts of climate change continue to unfold, the displacement of communities due to environmental factors is a pressing and growing challenge. Rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and other environmental changes are forcing millions of people to leave their homes in search of safer and more sustainable living conditions. In regions prone to environmental degradation and climate-related disasters, the movement of people continuously reshapes territories and human settlements, presenting significant challenges for land management, resource allocation, and long-term viability of livelihoods.

Urban areas are particularly affected, with informal settlements and marginalized communities - often already displaced by the effects of climate change - bearing the brunt of environmental hazards and inadequate infrastructure. Rapid urbanization exacerbates these vulnerabilities as informal settlements proliferate in hazardous areas susceptible to flooding, landslides, and other climate-related risks.

Given these complex and interconnected challenges, the networking event will bring together international actors, academia, different levels of government and community voices to explore together pathways for sustainable solutions that prioritize resilience and equity for all through multi-sectoral collaboration and coordinated actions across scales.

By anticipating and planning for movement resulting from changing climatic conditions, cities and their partners can better prepare and mitigate the impacts, leading to better outcomes for those who move and increased resilience in affected communities. The discussions will therefore delve into how partnerships with and for cities – leveraging data, spatial planning and urban design solutions, as well as policy and financial innovation – can facilitate the shift from reactive responses to anticipatory actions.

The event will mark the launch of a new Climate Mobility Cities Practice and feature some of its founding partners. After short remarks from the panelists, we aim to facilitate an open dialogue among all stakeholders focused on urban needs and opportunities, and the collaborations that can and must be fostered to strengthen local agency for addressing climate mobility. Participants will have the opportunity to showcase their experiences and discuss how joint action across sectors and levels of government can ensure people’s right to remain by reducing climate risk, support safe movements out of harm’s way, and facilitate the inclusion of newcomers and social cohesion in communities, fostering urban resilience and positive adaptation pathways in an era of climate crisis.