Planning, the urban poor and climate change in Small Island Developing States (SIDS): unmitigated disaster or inclusive adaptation?

This article identifies the impacts of climate change on the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Caribbean and the Pacific, which, through their geography and location, are amongst the most vulnerable countries in the world to natural hazards and the impacts of climate change. It explores how, in the main, the lack of recognition of the economic imperatives and importance of well-managed cities and urban centres in the SIDS has resulted in national urban planning systems and internationally-funded climate change adaptation and natural risk resilience mitigation 'best practice' interventions that largely ignore the needs of the urban poor living in urban centres - in particular, those in extra-legal settlements. It goes on to posit a different set of interrelated measures based on successful lessons from the field that might circumscribe a more targeted approach to climate change adaptation and to strengthening risk resilience in these small, vulnerable countries, so as to be more inclusive of the poor.