What is it about?
A Copenhagen (Denmark) case study shows that one-size-fits-all climate adaptation policies worsen urban injustice. Stormwater costs fall disproportionately on not-for-profit (social) housing residents, despite the city's reputation for climate leadership.
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Why is it important?
We show that even legally compliant, well-designed climate adaptation policies can deepen social inequality. This matters as cities worldwide adapt to extreme weather. Two aspects make this work distinct: a) we identify siloed governance, not market forces, as the hidden driver behind unequal adaptation costs, and b) we reveal a spatial dimension to this inequality, as not-for-profit housing is often sited closer to priority areas for climate adaptation, so financial and ecological vulnerability compound each other.
Perspectives
We hope this paper makes a technical-sounding topic- stormwater pipes, housing tenure, and climate financing- feel human: who gets protected as the climate changes, and who carries the cost? A just transition needs social and technical governance working together, not on separate tracks. If we don't fix this, we risk deepening socio-spatial and ecological inequalities in the green transition. More than anything, we hope this research moves us closer to a transition that is genuinely just and caring.
Natalie Marie Gulsrud
University of Copenhagen
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Housing tenure, climate resilience, and ecological segregation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, September 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2422764123.
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