Guidebook: Increasing Climate Change Resilience of Urban Water Infrastructure

This guidebook, based on a case study from Wuhan City, People's Republic of China, bridges the gap between the theoretical analyses of climate change impact on the urban water sector and the planning decisions that municipal authorities and utility managers need to make to increase the sector's climate change resilience. It answers questions that city planners and managers globally currently ask regarding the effects of climate change, particularly on services and utilities, and what we can do to prepare for these.

This guide presents steps to determine both Wuhan's vulnerability to the impact of climate change and the opportunities to improve its resilience. The methodology used combines known approaches and were worked out in consultation with Wuhan authorities. The solutions are presented in an easy-to-follow program of investment decisions, developed through a "bottom-up" approach involving Wuhan stakeholders.

The solutions proposed are presented as a program of investment decisions, which the city government and utility planners and managers could consider to increase the city's resilience to the effects of climate change.