[category]
[title]
Turns out all those years of complaining about experiencing four seasons in one day were actually just training. A new global analysis has ranked Melbourne the third most climate-resilient major city in the world, behind Chicago in the US and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
The ranking comes from AlphaGeo, a Singapore-based geospatial AI company that analysed 72 of the world’s largest cities to see how well they can cope with climate-related disasters. And it’s not just about which cities are least likely to get rained on.
AlphaGeo looked at six major climate risks: inland and coastal flooding, heat stress, drought, wildfires and hurricane winds, then assessed how well cities are set up to deal with them. That includes early-warning systems, governance, infrastructure and flood protection.
The podium finish puts Melbourne ahead of cities including Barcelona, Ankara, Buenos Aires, Paris, Istanbul and Bogotá.
Chicago took the top spot, helped by its temperate climate, access to freshwater and relatively low hurricane risk, as well as decades of investment in infrastructure designed to manage flooding.
Melbourne, of course, isn’t immune to climate disasters. The city already deals with heatwaves, floods and severe storms, and climate projections point to more hot days, lower rainfall and more very high fire-danger days in the coming decades.
Still, third place is pretty decent going for a city where the weather can serve up four seasons before lunch.
The 10 most climate-resilient cities in the world:
- Chicago, USA
- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Melbourne, Australia
- Barcelona, Spain
- Ankara, Turkey
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Paris, France
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Bogotá, Colombia
- Nairobi, Kenya