ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the adaptation and/or risk reduction benefits of a development project by investigating the DSK-Shiree project. It argues why and how wealth redistribution mechanisms should reach the extreme urban poor. Urban climate change risks are conventionally interpreted in terms of environmental risk and physical hazards associated with extreme weather events, but should also consider risk exposure, perceived and actual risks endured by a household or community due to climate variability. The DSK-Shiree project targeted 10,000 extreme poor slum dwellers in Dhaka between 2009 and 2012, and a further 15,000 from 2012 to 2015. Whilst DSK-Shiree staff provided phitkhiri to treat dirty water, and advised programme participants to boil drinking water, many participants in the treatment group could not always boil the water due to limited gas supply throughout the year. Overall, DSK-Shiree had a positive effect on the extreme urban poor households in all field sites.
