Have informal settlements changed in the last 20 years? What has changed about these settlements? What remains the same? And what new risks and opportunities does climate change pose to these settlements? In this project, I examine the structural and agency-based factors propelling or impeding transformation in (and of) informal settlements in a climate change context. I explore the effectiveness of different adaptation strategies for dealing with climate impacts and how they minimize, amplify or produce spatially unique conditions of impoverishment, health risks, loss of livelihood, and heightened vulnerability for specific groups.

Using Manila and Lagos as case studies, this project examines issues of marginality in adaptation, impacts of adaptation practices on slum communities, micro-politics of adaptation, gendered participation in adaptation, informal claims to adaptation resources, and windows of opportunity for transformative adaptation. A key goal of this study is to further identify ways in which the newly established ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ and the ‘New Urban Agenda: Habitat III’ can be translated into concrete actions with meaningful impacts on the lives of slum dwellers. Overall, the study will contribute to a better understanding of what transformative adaptation might mean or look like for slum communities.