Pursuit of environmental sustainability and climate resilience through urban recovery in Syria-Urban recovery Framework

In the years leading up to the Syrian crisis, while multiple factors defined the incidence of poverty and social unrest, environmental and climate change challenges were significant contributing factors to increased poverty, degraded living condition and rural–urban migration and. Over decades, environmental hazards have increased in frequency and magnitude. Droughts, less rain and higher temperatures leading to increasing water scarcity, land degradation, desertification, and forest fires are some of the stressors that impact both rural and urban Syria with accelerating effects. The sensitivities of population groups and systems to the adverse effects of these stressors due to poor housing and infrastructure systems are amplifying the impacts of nvironmental challenges.

The paper thus aims to outline considerations and make recommendations on how to respond to environmental and climate change-related challenges through urban recovery, identifying recovery steps that lead to transformative change in the long run, laying the foundation for identifying concrete interventions and projects at national to local levels.