Local Voices in Climate Adaptation: Understanding Resident Perceptions and Informing Human-centred Climate Governance

气候适应中的本地声音：理解居民认知并指导以人为本的气候治理

6000

As climate change intensifies, cities face multiple hazards, from urban flooding to extreme heat. Traditional climate adaptation often relies on top-down engineering and presents the risk of overlooking the lived experiences of local communities. This research therefore examines how residents in Suzhou of Yangtze River Delta Region perceive a selected set of local urban climate hazards and how these hazards are translated into disruptions in residents everyday life.

Through preliminary interviews and community surveys, this project investigates how these hazards affect the mobility, health, and household economy of local residents, and how such experiences vary across demographic groups. By distinguishing hazards as external exposures and disruptions as lived outcomes, the project offers a clearer bottom-up perspective of urban climate risk. The findings will help urban planners design tailored human-centric climate adaptation strategies that are socially acceptable and responsive to genuine community needs, avoiding social resistance caused by the engineering-only perspective.