River Cities and Climate Action: Discussion on Global Case Studies

Rivers are living ecosystems that connect and support elements of nature and forms of life. They support biodiversity within and around themselves, and maintain a balance with groundwater aquifers, and along with their floodplains help absorb high precipitation reducing flooding intensity. They also have a strong link to culture and spirituality and considered sacred in several parts of the world. Hence, they are so much more than just water. River cities around the world have devised creative ways of making their river ecosystems climate resilient. Some mechanisms include planning and landscape design interventions including ecological restoration with flood control strategies, bicycle, and pedestrian infrastructure and development opportunities. Others have focused on strengthening their policy structure which supports climate policy geared towards river resilience and creates a framework to move plans to project implementation. In this context, UN-Habitat is organizing a webinar to share global case studies from Africa, South-East Asia, and South Asia to enable knowledge exchange on building riverfront and river ecosystem resilience. The discussions will foster interactions on practices being used by different countries in designing supportive policies, community engagement programs, urban and landscape design interventions which aid in building healthier and stronger river cities.