# 1. Background

The world is urbanizing at a rapid pace and all future population growth is expected to occur in cities. It is estimated that almost 5 billion people will live in cities by 2030 and the majority of them will reside in cities of the developing world in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.<sup>1</sup> Urbanization plays a critical role in the economic development and social change of a nation. As cities and urban agglomerations develop and expand, they create dynamic centers of economic growth with increased job opportunities, better incomes and provision of essential services to their people. However, they also bring about problems of their own with pressures of exploding population, inadequate infrastructure, poverty, rapidly mushrooming informal settlements and rampant environmental degradation. Added to these pressures are the hazards associated with climate change and natural climate variability. The ability of cities to respond to the dual challenges of urbanization and climate change is going to determine the future economic growth, poverty alleviation, environmental sustainability and quality of life. The future of sustainable development will depend on the way cities adapt and respond to these challenges.

Many coastal cities across the globe, in particular in Asia, are hotspots of vulnerability due to climate change and natural climate variability and are at risk from extreme and recurrent events like heavy precipitation, flash floods, cyclones and sea level rise. Such events lead to massive damages to life and property, loss of value of the asset base and adverse effects on economic and social life. The adaptive capacity of such cities is often lower due to vulnerable location, large population residing in informal settlements and pressure on existing infrastructure, and this puts constraints on available physical, financial and human resources to cope with climate risks. Hence, extreme or recurrent weather events have adverse and long-term consequences for economic development and poverty alleviation and can alter the development trajectory of the city and surrounding areas. It is, therefore, critical to assess the exposure and vulnerability of cities in Asia to recurrent weather events, understand the impacts of such events on the population and their ability to respond.

This empirical study is carried out in Colombo, the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is the most important financial center of Sri Lanka and the metro area alone generates almost half of the country’s gross domestic product. The city, however, is acutely vulnerable to heavy rainfall, storm surges and other climate risks due to its coastal location. This study focuses on the exposure and vulnerability of Colombo residents to recurrent floods and their ability to respond. In particular, the poor households tend to have greater exposure and more vulnerability to such recurrent hazards and have limited ability to respond and adapt. The findings of this study are expected to help Colombo city administrators and policy makers in better targeting of adaptation interventions and would also have wider policy implications for similar cities.

> 1 UNFPA (2007), State of the world population: Unleashing the potential for urban growth, United Nations Population Fund.

3