Parasitic Resilience? Governing Water across Urban-Rural Divides in Asian Mega-Regions

Linda Shi, Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University.

Abstract: Dominant discourse on resilient cities reifies cities as agents of change in reducing urban vulnerability to climate change. Our research on water supply, floodwater, and post-disaster flood risk mitigation management in four Asian mega-regions complicates this notion by demonstrating how urban and rural regions depend on and exploit one another in responding to a changing climate. These dynamics suggest a form of “parasitic resilience” where the well-being of one geography is predicated on the vulnerability of another. By privileging the city or the metropolis, policies and programs can overlook the holistic, systems-scale impacts to human and ecological well-being.

This event is sponsored by the Geography Department of the Maxwell School of Syracuse University.