Complexities of urban resilience in the global south: key insights from Surat city, India

• Published in: Mitigation and adaptation strategies for global change Vol. 30; no. 6; p. 43
• Main Authors: Shukla, Nitesh, Das, Arup, Mazumder, Tarak Nath
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.08.2025; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adaptive systems; Atmospheric Sciences; Cities; Climate change; Climate Change Management and Policy; Complex adaptive systems; Complexity; Developing countries; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Economics; Emergency communications systems; Environmental Management; Feedback; Hierarchies; Infrastructure; LDCs; Original Article; Resilience; Social resilience; Stormwater management; Urban development; Urban planning; Urbanization; India; Resource inequality; Adaptive responses; Informality; Urban resilience; Complex adaptive systems; Global South cities; Urban morphology
• ISSN: 1381-2386; 1573-1596
• DOI: 10.1007/s11027-025-10240-x

Cities in the Global South (GS) have distinct urban morphology and are embedded in unique socio-political and economic settings than their Global North (GN) counterparts. This complexity, coupled with climate change hazards like floods, creates varying levels of vulnerability across different regions, cities, and even within different areas of the same city. Global initiatives to promote resilience can be significantly enhanced by understanding the core factors driving this differential vulnerability. The paper delves into four primary challenges associated with the assimilation of urban resilience in the context of the GS. The se challenges stem from the unique characteristics of cities in the GS: the prevalence of informality, existing social-cultural-economic hierarchies, the unequal distribution of infrastructure and resources, and the limitations imposed by governance and administrative constraints. The study employs complex adaptive systems (CAS) thinking as the overarching approach to identify challenges, different agents involved, and adaptive interventions to enhance resilience. To provide practical insights, we present a case study of Surat, a city in the Indian state of Gujarat, which captures the adaptive responses taken by multiple stakeholders, including individual, social, and administrative, within that particular context. The paper may help researchers and urban planners understand the specific urban dynamics of GS cities by shedding light on the challenges associated with resilience-building initiatives in these cities.