Adaptation to Climate Change in Latin American Cities: Environmental, Social, and Cultural Challenges
Climate change is one of the most complex challenges facing cities in the 21st century. Assessments by the IPCC and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warn that rising global temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, and the increased frequency of extreme events will profoundly transform urban environments. Their effects are already evident in infrastructure, ecosystems, resource availability, public health, and the daily life of the population. But they do not affect everyone equally. In Latin America, where more than 80% of the population lives in cities, climate change tends to widen pre-existing social, economic, and territorial inequalities, and raises an urgent discussion about equity, inclusion, and climate justice.
Latin American cities have particular conditions. Many have grown rapidly, with a significant proportion of informal settlements and marked differences in access to infrastructure, public services, adequate housing, and green spaces. In these contexts, the risks associated with extreme heat, flooding, water scarcity, or changes in the hydrological regime tend to be concentrated among the most vulnerable sectors. Adding to this is another problem: much of the architecture, infrastructure, and urban planning was conceived under climatic conditions that no longer fully correspond to the projections for the coming decades. As a result, many cities are not sufficiently prepared to respond to the climate scenarios ahead.
Urban vulnerability cannot be understood solely from the physical characteristics of the built environment. It also depends on social inequalities, forms of territorial occupation, governance, and the real adaptive capacities of communities. Climate change, moreover, puts built heritage, cultural landscapes, and different ways of inhabiting the city at risk. Adapting therefore requires looking beyond technical solutions and incorporating social and cultural dimensions into urban planning.
Within this framework, this symposium proposes an interdisciplinary space to analyze the impacts of climate change on Latin American cities from an environmental, social, cultural, and territorial perspective. It seeks to bring together research studying projections of climate impacts under different future scenarios, as well as adaptation measures aimed at reducing vulnerability and strengthening urban resilience. Contributions on urban climatology, green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, water management, adaptation of buildings and infrastructure, urban health, social vulnerability, risk perception, climate justice, governance, cultural heritage, territorial planning, and public policies will be welcome.
The symposium aims to foster dialogue among researchers, professionals, and decision-makers from various fields. It also seeks to open a space for sharing methodologies, results, and experiences developed in diverse contexts across Latin America. In doing so, it hopes to contribute to a regional reflection on how to build more resilient, inclusive, and culturally sensitive cities in the face of the challenges of climate change.
