Community-Based Vulnerability Assessment: Semarang, Indonesia

This paper documents the process and results of a community based climate change vulnerability assessment carried out in the Indonesian coastal city of Semarang between October and November 2009. It considers which groups are most vulnerable to extreme climate events and where they are located within the city. It characterizes the nature of their vulnerability, as well as the existing adaptive capacities that poor urban communities in Semarang have developed. This paper suggests that resilience and adaptation strategies should build off existing adaptive capacity and strategies already developed by urban poor communities, proposing a few ideas for further consideration and exploration.