Climate change is real and it is man-made. We have put so many greenhouse gas pollutants into the atmosphere that we will see significant and long-term change that we need to adapt and adjust to. It is important for development practitioners to understand these impacts and the challenge of how and when to adapt to climate change. There are plenty of grim presentations of what the extremes of the possible climate scenarios will throw at us over the next 100 years, but not all change will be disastrous; some change will be beneficial, but much of the change will happen at an unprecedented rate that will require the best possible analysis and understanding of how and when we should adapt to climate change. This is important for development practitioners as we invest in ensuring that poverty is reduced and eliminated and the well-being of everyone is improved. Many countries and communities around the world are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, but developing economies may on one hand be less resilient to the impact, but could on the other hand be in a better position to make their development climate smart by making the most efficient use of their economic resources. The chapters in this book shine a light on the complexity and the multi-dimensional aspects of climate change adaptation. They gather some of the experiences of addressing climate change impacts in a development context. This book was previously published as a special issue of Development in Practice.

How do we create more economic opportunities in the low-income communities of the developing world? How can these communities build greater resilience against economic uncertainties, natural disasters, wars, and the growing threats of climate change? This book reviews the research literature of economic development in low-income communities of the developing world—from rural villages to neighborhoods in the largest cities on earth. This book is unique in gathering, organizing, and synthesizing research on economic development at the community level, across the developing world, drawing from multiple disciplines, publications, methodologies, regions, and countries. Part I provides an overview and context of the many challenges facing the developing world today, as well as the often-heated debates over what "development" is and how to make it happen. Part II reviews the extensive research literature in major fields of community economic development including education and human capital, overcoming the "curse of natural resources," entrepreneurship and micro-finance, tourism, and sustainability. The audience includes undergraduate students interested in development and sustainability, graduate students and other young researchers in a wide range of disciplines who are finding their own focuses, and established researchers who wish to expand their agendas. An expanded bibliography accompanies the book as a downloadable supplement.

This handbook presents the great contemporary challenges facing cities and urban spaces in Latin America and the Caribbean. The content of this multidisciplinary book is organized into four large sections focusing on the histories and trajectories of urban spatial development, inequality and displacement of urban populations, contemporary debates on urban policies, and the future of the city in this region. Scholars of diverse origins and specializations analyze Latin American and Caribbean cities showing that, despite their diversity, they share many characteristics and challenges and that there is value in systematizing this knowledge to both understand and explain them better and to promote increasing equity and sustainability. The contributions in this handbook enhance the theoretical, empirical and methodological study of urbanization processes and urban policies of Latin America and the Caribbean in a global context, making it an important reference for scholars across the world. The book is designed to meet the interdisciplinary study and consultation needs of undergraduate and graduate students of architecture, urban design, urban planning, sociology, anthropology, political science, public administration, and more.

"With 80% of its population living in cities, Latin America and the Caribbean is the most urbanized region on the planet. Located here are some of the largest and bes-known cities, like Mexico City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota, Lima and Santiago. The region also boasts hundreds of smaller cities that stand out because of their dynamism and creativity. This edition of State of Latin American and Caribbean cities presents teh current situation of the region's urban world, including the demographic, economic, social, environmental, urban and institutional conditions in which cities are developing." -- p.4 of cover.

Adaptive social protection (ASP) helps to build the resilience of poor and vulnerable households to the impacts of large, covariate shocks, such as natural disasters, economic crises, pandemics, conflict, and forced displacement. Through the provision of transfers and services directly to these households, ASP supports their capacity to prepare for, cope with, and adapt to the shocks they face—before, during, and after these shocks occur. Over the long term, by supporting these three capacities, ASP can provide a pathway to a more resilient state for households that may otherwise lack the resources to move out of chronically vulnerable situations. Adaptive Social Protection: Building Resilience to Shocks outlines an organizing framework for the design and implementation of ASP, providing insights into the ways in which social protection systems can be made more capable of building household resilience. By way of its four building blocks—programs, information, finance, and institutional arrangements and partnerships—the framework highlights both the elements of existing social protection systems that are the cornerstones for building household resilience, as well as the additional investments that are central to enhancing their ability to generate these outcomes. In this report, the ASP framework and its building blocks have been elaborated primarily in relation to natural disasters and associated climate change. Nevertheless, many of the priorities identified within each building block are also pertinent to the design and implementation of ASP across other types of shocks, providing a foundation for a structured approach to the advancement of this rapidly evolving and complex agenda.

This report looks at progress made in “growing greener cities” in Latin America and the Caribbean – cities in which urban and peri-urban agriculture is recognized by public policy, included in urban development strategies and land-use planning, supported by agricultural research and extension, and linked to sources of technological innovation, investment and credit, and to urban markets and consumers.

The Urban Risk Assessment (URA) is a framework for assessing disaster and climate risk in cities based on three pillars: a hazard impact assessment, an institutional assessment, and a socioeconomic assessment. The URA can be applied flexibly based on a city's available financial resources, available data, and institutional capacity.