Assessing Climate Change Planning In Indian Cities: Bridging The Gap Between Climate Change Research And Practice

Abstract

Climate change is a multidimensional observable fact and is regarded as one of the greatest challenge human society is facing in the 21^st century. Debates on climate change advocate that, urban areas not only contribute to climate change by emitting huge amounts of carbon-dioxide gas into the atmosphere, but also play a vital role in addressing climate change. In the context of, rapidly evolving policy frameworks in India, this research assessed whether urban planning policies in master plans target climate change mitigation. This research undertook a qualitative content analysis of the policy framework of master plans that are involved in the sample and developed climate change mitigation indexes for all the sampled master plans by assessing urban policies against climate change mitigation evaluation protocols. This research significantly contributes to the field of urban planning and public policy by analyzing the relationship between urban planning policies and climate change. This research supports the use of master plans as an effective tool in mitigating climate change thereby promoting low-carbon regions through urban planning. This research has an implication for mainstreaming climate change planning in urban planning. Conclusions emphasize the application of urban planning as a policy tool for mitigating climate change..