Extreme Urbanism

Human-induced climate change causes weather events to become more extreme resulting in widespread and irreversible impacts on both natural and human systems. During the past decade, climate-fuelled disasters have increased human vulnerabilities from the mismanagement of resources, intensifying population displacement. According to IPCC’s 2023 Synthesis Report, a major obstacle to creating viable adaptation strategies is limited knowledge of crucial self-organizational strengths and embedded adaptive capacities that urban residents develop in response to extreme weather. Under current urbanisation trends, the impact of extreme heat and flooding events on urban housing, especially for the most vulnerable residents who lack access to secure or resilient housing, will be devastating unless global climate adaptation actions are enhanced.

The aim of the explorative network Extreme Urbanism (ExUrb) is to break new scientific ground on the global transfer of knowledge regarding local responses to extreme climate change in urban housing. The network brings together an interdisciplinary body of researchers based in Denmark, Bangladesh, Chile, Ghana, United Kingdom and United States. To facilitate the cross-fertilization of ideas across continents, three intermediate-sized cities have been selected that differ geographically, culturally, and economically but are all negotiating the local consequences of extreme heat and flooding events: Khulna (Bangladesh), Antofagasta (Chile) and Tamale (Ghana). These differing contexts will enable ExUrb to develop insights on the global transferability of climatically-sustainable housing practices.