Risk-related resettlement and relocation in urban areas

This CDKN Essentials fact sheet provides recommendations and best practices for urban resettlement and relocation as responses to disaster risk, emphasizing that such measures should be a last resort and integrated into long-term sustainable development.

• While resettlement and relocation can lower exposure to hazards, they frequently result in overall social and economic declines for the affected populations compared to their previous status.
• Resettlement and relocation should only be pursued as a final option after all possibilities for on-site upgrading or mitigation have been exhausted. There is often a discrepancy between how decision-making authorities and local communities perceive risk, which may hide alternative actions to resettlement.
• To prevent the future need for resettlement, land-use planning must prioritize making safe land available for low-income populations and minimizing new developments in hazard-prone areas.
• There is a risk that hazard exposure is used as a pretext for forced evictions, particularly in some Latin American countries and in Indian slums. To counter this, legal frameworks must be strengthened and international covenants on resettlement must be honored to protect human rights.
• The document distinguishes between three types of movement: 'Resettlement' is a major, comprehensive movement over significant distances involving new social and economic relations; 'Relocation' is a non-systematic move to nearby areas with less upheaval; and 'Eviction or displacement' is the forced expulsion of people without a planned alternative location.

APA

Jain, G., Johnson, C., Lavell, A., Lwasa, S., Oliver-Smith, A., & Wilkinson, E. (2017). Risk-related resettlement and relocation in urban areas. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Risk-related-resettlement-CDKN.pdf

Chicago

Jain, Garima, Cassidy Johnson, Allan Lavell, Shuaib Lwasa, Anthony Oliver-Smith, and Emily Wilkinson. Risk-related resettlement and relocation in urban areas. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2017. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Risk-related-resettlement-CDKN.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jain |first1=Garima |last2=Johnson |first2=Cassidy |last3=Lavell |first3=Allan |last4=Lwasa |first4=Shuaib |last5=Oliver-Smith |first5=Anthony |last6=Wilkinson |first6=Emily |title=Risk-related resettlement and relocation in urban areas |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=July 2017 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Risk-related-resettlement-CDKN.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jain2017riskrelated, author = {Jain, Garima and Johnson, Cassidy and Lavell, Allan and Lwasa, Shuaib and Oliver-Smith, Anthony and Wilkinson, Emily}, title = {{Risk-related resettlement and relocation in urban areas}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2017}, month = jul, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Risk-related-resettlement-CDKN.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }