Introduction

This chapter concerns two potentially irreversible global trends. The first is rapid urbanization across the Global South and the associated rise in the scale of urban poverty. More than half of the world's eight billion people already live in cities and towns, and by 2050 the urban share of global population is expected to rise to 66 percent, nearly five billion people. The second trend is climate change. The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), the most authoritative source, concludes that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, with 95 percent certainty that humans have contributed to global warming. The book provides a rich account of how well the diverse lived experiences of slum dwellers in 13 towns and cities in 7 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America add to existing knowledge and deepen our understanding of the policy-relevant development agenda involving a progression from acquiescence, to coping, to progressive adaptation, and ultimately transformative adaptation.