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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of exogenous drivers that seeks to foster endogenous resilience and climate adaptation policy and practice in developing countries. It particularly examines the role of Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network as an exogenous driver that sought to sustain urban climate adaptation and resilience agenda in a secondary city in Indonesia.Design/methodology/approach The research combines fieldworks and desktop research. Primary data collection includes participant observation, unstructured interviews with city stakeholders and project managers, semi-structured interviews with local communities and literature reviews. This research also used an ethnographic field research approach.Findings Exogenous drivers have temporarily fostered climate change adaptation at city level, but the question remains is how can international actors effectively create a meaningful transformation toward urban resilience in developing countries like Indonesia. Exogenous drivers can play significant roles as a catalyst for urban adaptation planning, including undertaking vulnerability assessment and city resilience strategy and implementing adaptation actions, and facilitates risk management. Further processes for mainstreaming climate adaptation and disaster reduction depend on how receptive and responsive local actors to co-facilitate and co-lead urban resilience buildings and development.Originality/value There is still lack of documented knowledge on local institutional change and policy making processes. This research shows challenges and opportunities in institutionalising urban climate adaptation and risk management agenda. It further shows that genesis of endogenous adaptation cannot be separated from the exogenous climate adaptation processes as well as internal dynamic of urban governance in developing world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]