AI Climate, an Integrated Land Management and Decision-Making Tool: Transforming Land Management with AI in the Face of Climate Change and Urban Expansion

AI Climate is an integrated and innovative land management and decision-making tool designed for the Global South, tracking the location of informal settlements and low-income communities, and their exposure to hazards and stresses arising from climate change. It processes geospatial images and datasets to produce analytics-ready layers that identify patterns of informal urbanization, flooding and landslide risks, and land value differentials. This cost-effective tool represents a strategic planning instrument for rapidly urbanizing cities in the Global South, where data and resources are limited, and the challenges of climate and settlements are constantly evolving. The AI Climate interface, accessible to the public, provides vital information to aid decision makers in advancing policies that focus on the needs of socially vulnerable communities, particularly women and children. This is especially important in areas where gender inequality and violence are exacerbated by the effects of natural disasters and climate change. AI Climate's value lies in its integrated approach, enabling strategic responses to climate impacts, identifying
safe areas for urban expansion, monitoring adaptation strategies, formulating initiatives like land banking, and swiftly estimating disaster costs and land values. It highlights the importance of land as a resource for building resilience, inclusivity and sustainable development, thereby strengthening the adaptive
capacities of communities to climate change. AI Climate has been developed through a collaborative approach comprising a diverse, gender-inclusive set of international and local partners, encompassing a range of expertise from image sourcing to deep learning and urban planning, and including validation by
local experts and communities.