ABSTRACT
Climate extremes have increased globally as well as in India in terms of the frequencies and occurrences of heatwaves, floods, and droughts. Furthermore, India has experienced an unprecedented growth of urbanisation over the last few decades, with 366 crore people living in urban areas in 2019. In this situation, the sustainable design of urban systems and infrastructure requirements need to take into account the growing trends of climate extremes due to global warming. Indeed, climate model projections show a high increase in climate extremes, which could become further intensified with rising levels of urbanisation, and the uneven development is reflected in the concentration of the population in a few mega cities. We argue that disaster risk management and climate change need to be considered as inputs in the design of the complex structure of urban systems with management options for improving resilience under climate stress. Climate changes like droughts, floods, and extreme heatwaves become foundational considerations for the planning and management of urban areas. More specifically, the network modelling approach can be applied to improve the climate resiliency of urban areas.
