Published Sep 08, 2026 | 3:10 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 08, 2026 | 3:10 PM
Hyderabad
Synopsis: Cities were scored on exposure to inland and coastal flooding, heat stress, drought, wildfire, and hurricane winds, then measured against how much they had invested in countering those threats in the form of early warning systems, governance, and infrastructure such as drainage networks and flood barriers.
Hyderabad has been placed second from the last in a new global ranking of how well major cities can withstand climate disasters. Ahmedabad ranked last and is classified as the least climate-resilient major city in the world.
According to The New York Times, geospatial risk analytics firm AlphaGeo evaluated 72 of the world’s largest cities on a simple formula that resilience equals risk minus adaptation.
Cities were scored on exposure to inland and coastal flooding, heat stress, drought, wildfire, and hurricane winds, then measured against how much they had invested in countering those threats in the form of early warning systems, governance, and infrastructure such as drainage networks and flood barriers.
View this post on Instagram
Hyderabad’s low score places it among a cluster of South Asian cities that dominate the bottom of the list.
Ahmedabad ranked worst overall, followed by Hyderabad, Multan, Dhaka, Lahore and Kolkata. The report flags all these cities for high exposure to flooding and monsoon extremes combined with inadequate adaptation measures.
By contrast, Chicago topped the list as the most resilient city globally, aided by a temperate climate and decades of investment in flood-mitigation infrastructure, including its large-scale underground tunnel and reservoir system.
AlphaGeo’s founder noted that resilience is rarely measured in practice, even though it is widely discussed. The report aims to close this gap by quantifying how prepared, or unprepared, cities really are.
Also Read: Telangana SIR: ECI revises schedule, extends final publication deadline to November 9
(With inputs from Sreshta Ladegaam)
