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Monday, September 8, 2025

Urban areas, responsible for over 70% of global CO₂ emissions, face increasing exposure to the adverse impacts of climate change, from intensifying heatwaves to more frequent floods, prompting a surge in integrated urban strategies that simultaneously address mitigation and adaptation.





These strategies combine nature-based, technological, and social solutions to create synergistic responses capable of transforming cities into more resilient, equitable, and sustainable environments without relying solely on isolated interventions, for instance, nature-based solutions like urban greening, when fused with smart technologies such as environmental sensors or renewable energy systems, create techno-ecological approaches that enhance carbon capture, reduce the urban heat island effect, and increase energy efficiency, while simultaneously fostering community ownership and promoting behavioural changes that reinforce sustainable practices, and projects such as the Nature4Cities initiative across Latin America and the Smart Green ASEAN Cities programme exemplify how integrated approaches can yield co-benefits, including improved biodiversity, public health, and water management, especially when community engagement is embedded in their governance structures, yet despite these benefits, such integrated solutions face institutional, financial, and technical barriers, often requiring cross-sector collaboration, long-term policy alignment, and upfront investments that are difficult to secure without strong political will and inclusive planning mechanisms; as demonstrated by cities like Freiburg, Rotterdam, and Quezon City, success depends not just on the deployment of innovative tools, but on multi-stakeholder collaboration, inclusive governance, and a clear vision linking technological advances with social equity and ecological restoration, ultimately highlighting that the effectiveness of climate strategies lies not in isolated interventions but in deliberate, context-specific integration that reflects the dynamic complexity of urban systems. (Tang, 2024)