How Can Urban Governance Better Respond to Climate Risks in the Global South? A Multi-Disciplinary Review

This article presents a comprehensive review of urban climate risks in the Global South across four themes: vulnerability, risk research, responses, and governance. Experts from nine research fields have contributed reviews summarising the current state of knowledge in their respective fields. Their analyses highlight the challenges in responding to urban climate risks in the Global South, as well as the gaps in current urban governance frameworks that need to be addressed to effectively manage these risks. Drawing on the literature reviewed, the article also presents a citation network analysis to understand the ways in which different fields contribute to integrated solutions for urban governance and climate risk management. The results indicate that while there is some level of knowledge sharing across certain fields of expertise, others remain largely fragmented, and no single discipline can fully address the complexity of urban climate risk. Therefore, effective solutions must be holistic and multidisciplinary, grounded in the lived realities of urban dwellers.