Assessing the Potentials of Digitalization as a Tool for Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Development in Urban Centres

Abdul-Lateef Balogun, Marks, Danny, Sharma, Richa, Shekhar, Himanshu, Balmes, Chiden, Maheng, Dikman, Arshad, Adnan and Salehi, Pourya, (2019). Assessing the Potentials of Digitalization as a Tool for Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Development in Urban Centres. Sustainable Cities and Society, 58 1-12

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  • Sub-type Journal article
    Author Abdul-Lateef Balogun
    Marks, Danny
    Sharma, Richa
    Shekhar, Himanshu
    Balmes, Chiden
    Maheng, Dikman
    Arshad, Adnan
    Salehi, Pourya
    Title Assessing the Potentials of Digitalization as a Tool for Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Development in Urban Centres
    Appearing in Sustainable Cities and Society
    Volume 58
    Publication Date 2019-11-01
    Place of Publication Amsterdam
    Publisher Elsevier Ltd.
    Start page 1
    End page 12
    Language eng
    Abstract Digitalization is a key enabler of sustainable development of cities’ socio-economic dynamics with the potential to foster climate-friendly urban environments and societies. The advent of the 4th industrial revolution has seen the increased application of digitalization in several fields and at different levels. High-tech digital devices, platforms and environments are increasingly being deployed to enhance productivity, efficiency and sustainability, and improve overall well-being of urban dwellers. Digitalization is projected to further impact cities in future, transform jobs and trigger life-style changes with far-reaching impacts that will ultimately affect cities’ resilience and adaptation capacities. While a growing body of research has highlighted the significance of digitalization to climate change mitigation such as reducing GHG and CO2 emissions, comprehensive evaluations of the potentials of digitalization as an enabler of climate change adaptation remain scarce. This paper addresses this gap by analysing the current trend in digital revolution in relation to climate change adaptation and examines the likely challenges of digitalization. A desk research method was adopted, focusing on core digitalization concepts driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0). Nine case studies in cities across various continents were selected to assess the potentials of digitalization in addressing climatic hazards and to highlight benefits from implementing digitalization, while considering the social-ecological-technological challenges and tensions around IR 4.0. Our findings reveal the capabilities of digitalization in supporting more effective early warning and emergency response systems, enhancing food and water security, improving power infrastructure performance, enabling citizen engagement and participatory adaptation measures and minimizing the impacts of climatic hazards. Finally, we recommend feasible pathways to overcome present risks and challenges in order to optimize the numerous opportunities offered by digitalization in support of climate change adaptation initiatives.
    UNBIS Thesaurus CLIMATE CHANGE
    Keyword Adaptation
    Digitalization
    Sustainable
    Urban
    Copyright Holder Elsevier
    Copyright Year 2019
    Copyright type All rights reserved
    DOI 10.1016/j.scs.2019.101888
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    Created: Thu, 14 Nov 2019, 17:46:46 JST by Aarti Basnyat on behalf of UNU EHS