Increase in water induced risks are realized with marginal settlements being more vulnerable due to limited adaptive capacity. The challenge put forward by climate change, in absence of adequate formal strategies, has forced the dwellers of marginal settlements, over the years, to adopt local adaptation strategies to survive the risk and live in harmony with water. The highly diverse characteristics based on livelihoods and social networks provide for adaptive capacity of the dwellers. The objective of the paper is to identify these strategies based on livelihoods or the daily activities of the dwellers within the marginal settlements in different territories. Rural marginal communities in Northern Mozambique and urban in Mumbai are assessed by direct observations, interpretation from collected images and literature review to present a framework of strategies based on livelihoods. Result provides for holistic findings that contribute to the lexicon of water-risk adaptation for marginal settlements in developing countries.

Informal settlements are characterised by inadequate infrastructure and overcrowding. Making up a major portion of the urban fabric of Asia, they are the result of ineffective policies, unsuitable regulations and a lack of political will. Informal settlements are vulnerable to climate hazards, burdened with land tenure insecurity and dependence on the informal economy for livelihoods. As they expand, coastal informal settlements occupy environmentally vulnerable spaces, such as low-lying marshy swamps alongside water. The most frequent risk is flooding, which is made worse by sea-level rise and excessive precipitation brought on by climate change. In the absence of adequate institutional interventions and exacerbated by the impact of climate change, inhabitants are forced to develop local parsimonious coping strategies to forge a harmonious coexistence with water. The objective of the article is to find space for water, that is, identifying physical space that serves for flood adaptation within informal settlements. This involves spatial assessment of embedded shared space in informal settlements. Spatial analysis based on the occupation of space and its relation with water is carried out through drawings, direct observations and interpretation from the cases of Dharavi in Mumbai, India, and Dili in Timor-Leste. The findings reveal the intricate relation between water and informal settlements, laying the groundwork for a proposition of typologies for water-related public spaces that could be of significant use for formulating flood adaptation strategies.

The research paper examines the pivotal role of living traditions in the adaptation and evolution of indigenous urban spaces, specifically within the coastal urban slum of Dharavi in Mumbai. The study delves into the characteristics of public spaces within these areas, leading to the creation of a comprehensive typology and framework that encapsulate indigenous measures and built elements. By acknowledging and harnessing the wisdom embedded in these traditions, the paper aims to present the intrinsic connection between local practices, cultural heritage, and the physical manifestation of these traditions in the urban landscape, while unveiling how these living traditions serve as a resilient force in the face of urban transformation. Employing direct observations and immersive fieldwork in the neighborhood of fishermen, Koliwada in Dharavi, the research captures the interplay; experiences and perspectives, that presents the cyclical occupation of indigenous urban landscape based on living traditions in the urban slum. The findings underscore the crucial role of community-led vernacular measures in flood adaptation, highlighting how indigenous public spaces serve as innovative tools for addressing challenges, particularly in coastal urban slums prone to flooding. In conclusion, this research emphasizes the significance of understanding, preserving, and integrating living traditions within indigenous urban landscapes

Water plays a lead role in shaping urban waterfront territories. They are generally located in the central part of the cities and are burdened with environmental challenges. Climate change is expected to increase extreme weather events with a larger volume of change in water. Sea level rise, high tides, storms, and floods enhance the vulnerability of such areas along the water. Waterfront territories are more vulnerable to changing water as they occupy the low-lying marshy land. How humans respond to flooding is one of the most challenging questions. The response involves using various built elements embedded in the urban morphology of waterfront territories. The objective of the paper is to identify, systematize and categorize the built elements that exist as a cause of changing water in urban waterfront territories, in the case of Kanpur riverine area and Dharavi, Mumbai. The methodology, exploratory and investigative in character, involve assessment by direct observations and interpretation from the sites, collected images and literature review from the previous published research. The cases from two different territories; formal and informal, enable findings and lessons that contribute to research into the lexicon of built elements necessary for addressing floods.