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Most individuals living in low-income households in cities like Dhaka, Bangladesh, reside in informal, high-density settlements that experience exacerbated vulnerabilities from climate change. When determining development approaches that take into account future needs for adaptation, community residents and the professionals and policymakers who support these communities must consider the existing challenges associated with living in poverty, the rapidly increasing rate of urbanization, and future climate risks. The key objectives of this paper are to expand the understanding of the co-evolution of these “wicked problems” and the need for developing alternative strategies for adaptation. The paper explores the organic creativity of residents living in informal settlements as they draw upon locally available resources to create situation specific, pragmatic solutions to locally defined challenges. We term this practice “fluid engagement,” a design approach that aspires to be flexible, situated, pragmatic and participative, and demonstrates a willingness to be open to heterogeneous combinations of purpose and programs. Critically, “fluidity” suggests a participative approach to design that takes into account the “voices” beyond the policy and professional nexus to the participation of the community. This paper aims to connect emerging literature concerning the urban practices of low-income households in cities of the South with a detailed case-study analysis of the spatial practices at the micro-level in an informal settlement in Dhaka. The paper contributes to a new agenda of architectural and urban-development research that engages with issues of poverty and climate change as a process of co-evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the built environment and vulnerability and resilience is a little-studied area of research, and demands an exploration of constraints and windows of opportunity. Given gender roles and the division of labour between women and men within urban poor households, the impacts of climate extremes are likely to be gendered. But conceptualizing gender only in terms of the vulnerability of women can mean overlooking the complex and intersecting power relations that marginalize women and men differently. These power relations are manifested in spatial practices, while spatial relations are manifested in the construction of gender. Thus, the power to make decisions in the built environment based on gender roles, and the nature of gender subordination, rights and entitlements contribute significantly to the capacity to adapt to climate extremes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Significant lessons can be drawn from grassroots experiences of coping with extreme weather for reducing the vulnerability of the urban poor to climate change. This paper examines the household and community coping strategies used by low-income households living in Korail, the largest informal settlement in Dhaka. This includes how they use physical, economic and social means to reduce risk, reduce losses and facilitate recovery from flooding and high temperatures, and shows how grassroots adaptation differs according to the level of risk from flooding. The paper also discusses how local planning and governance mechanisms aimed at adaptation can support these coping strategies, including mainstreaming them into adaptation plans that can be scaled up to the citywide level. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]