Planning for Climate Change in Cartagena, Colombia: Institutionalizing Alternative Approaches

Planning for climate change in cities of developing countries is a difficult task due to the lack of resources, low institutional capacity of local authorities and governments, and the informal and illegal growth of urban areas. This is worsened by the fact that the occurrence of extreme weather events and small incremental changes in climate phenomena is increasing and intensifying in these areas. This paper is a case study of Cartagena, Colombia. It seeks to identify how bottom-up approaches are incorporated or considered into its legal and institutional planning framework. This framework is examined by revising associated planning laws and other documents, and through interviews with local planners, public officers, NGOs, CBOs, planning experts, academics, union members, private sector organizations and other key agents. I found that there are programs, strategies and approaches that involve citizen and community participation in planning. However, training and education are required on how to participate in these processes and to increase awareness and associate extreme weather events with climate change effects and causes. In addition, public-private partnerships, such as that of the Comité Barriales de Emergencias (COMBAS) program, are recommended, as they have successfully managed disaster risk reduction by merging top-down and bottom-up approaches.