ABSTRACT
Asian megacities are adapting to climate change through a plenitude of strategies that reduce risks and moderate impacts on urban populations, infrastructure, and ecosystems. While some strategies contribute directly to sustainable development, others undermine social equality, resilience, and long-term sustainability; thus, suggesting the need to enhance synergies and balance trade-offs between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate change adaptation. In this chapter, we draw on thirty city-level adaptations to explore the complementarity of adaptation strategies in three Asian megacities (Manila, Bangkok, and Jakarta) with SDG 10 (reducing inequality) and SDG 11 (making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable). Our findings reveal 10 strategies that are mutually reinforcing and compatible with both SDGs, but certain aspects of these adaptations also conflicted with SDG 10. Furthermore, strategies with the highest investment and overwhelming government support were not necessarily compatible with both goals. The treatment of symptoms instead of root causes of vulnerability, fragmented power structure, lack of interagency coordination, and elite capture contributed to the inequity and strain on adaptation-development nexus. To address this conundrum, we propose the expansion of people-oriented development, transformation of adaptation, and revision of planning practices.
