The document reviews existing guidelines for climate change-related relocation in informal settlements, highlighting a gap in specific guidance for such scenarios despite the growing recognition of planned relocation as a viable adaptation strategy. It identifies the scarcity of comprehensive vulnerability reduction resources and calls for more detailed, community-specific guidance, particularly after significant climate events. The research shows a trend of emerging guidance since 2011, as well as the need for careful assessment of climate impacts prior to planning relocations.

1. Climate change-related relocation in LDC
cities: A review of existing guidelines for
informal settlements
Stilt homes:
Manila, Philippines
1
Dr. Brent Doberstein,
University of Waterloo
bdoberst@uwaterloo.ca

2. Next 13 minutes…
• Origin of research/rationale
• Methods
• Results
• Brief conclusions
2

3. Rationale/‘Gap’
• Broad understanding:
• Climate change-related displacement has/will
continue to affect millions of people
• Human displacement: a sorely neglected aspect of the
current climate change debate (emphasis added, Displacement
Solutions 2011)
• Planned or assisted relocation increasingly seen as a
logical and legitimate climate change (CC) adaptation
strategy (IOM 2010, Black et. al. 2011).
• Relocation planning as an adaptation strategy is virtually
nonexistent in (CCA) policy design. (ADB 2012) 3

4. Types of CC Displacement
Presentation
focus
(Displacement Solutions 2011)
4

5. Research Method
Question: to what extent is guidance available for CC
relocation practice?
• Guidance=principles, ‘how-to’ manuals, policy
documents, guidelines, etc.
• Guidance? comprehensive vulnerability
reduction through resettlement
• Physical, social, economic, political & ecological
vulnerability reduction
Method:
-secondary document search (n=47)
-contents analysis of ‘top’ documents (n=8)
5

6. Results
Three Gorges Dam resettlement
• Abundance of ‘resettlement’ guidance
• Development-induced displacement &
resettlement (DIDR)
• Conflict resettlement
• Disaster resettlement
• Very little CC-specific guidance
• Most useful sources emerged >2011
• No informal settlement-specific guidance
Zaatari settlement, Jordan
6

7. Relocation as a last resort
• Almost all existing guidelines (DIDRCC-related)
state this is some way or another
• Uncertainty: huge challenge for CC relocation
• How can planners be certain CC impacts
necessitate relocation?
• Careful assessment of CC implications
• Natural-hazard related ‘evidence’
• E.g. Increasing flood levels, frequency, impacts, etc
• Requests by communities
7

8. Informal settlement,
post-Typhoon:
8
Navotas, Manila

9. Post-Typhoon
flooding, informal
settlement, Manila
9

10. Informal settlement
flooding, Dhaka
10

11. Community request 11
for resettlement?

12. 12

13. 13

14. 14

15. 15

16. Conclusions
• CC-specific relocation guidance is
beginning to emerge (post 2011)
• New guidance emerging monthly
• Gaps:
• Comprehensive vulnerability reduction
guidance
• Detailed ‘how to’ guides
• Country-specific guides
• Community-specific guidance
• E.g. Informal settlements
March 2014
16
June 2014

17. Questions
?
17