The book chapter titled “An Assessment on Climate Change Resistant Cities and Sustainability of Cities”, written by Prof. Hamza ATEŞ, a faculty member of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the Faculty of Political Sciences of our university, together with his PhD student Bahar BIYIKLAR, was published in the book titled “Climate Change, Sustainability and Resilient Cities Practices, Problems and Solutions”.
The study focused on what has been done and what needs to be done to make cities resistant to climate change within the scope of sustainable city understanding.
Based on the fact that the main cause of climate change is human activities, the problem experienced today is described as ‘anthropogenic (human-induced) climate change’, and the study is based on the thesis that the negativities of this process can be prevented with human activities.
- In the study, although the issue of climate change is a global environmental problem, it was discussed by highlighting cities as the places where it occurs and its effects are felt the most. It was emphasized that rapid population growth and unregulated urbanization lead to unplanned use and destruction of natural environments and resources.
- On the other hand, the study suggested that climate change makes cities more fragile than rural areas.
- In addition, in the study, it was stated that “Making cities resilient to climate change” within the scope of Climate Action, one of the UN Sustainable Development goals, depends on the implementation of a four-dimensional model, and these dimensions were explained as economy, leadership-management, active social participation and environmental policy.
- In the study, cities were highlighted as areas that both affect and are affected by climate change. Thus, it was suggested that addressing the problem within the framework of city management provides a more reasonable framework.
- The study ended with recommendations on the steps that local governments, which in one sense means city management, should take to protect their cities against climate change and to ensure the economic-social-physical-environmental sustainability of their cities.