Aligning Climate Resilience With Squatter Settlements in Belize City

The Belize Association of Planners is a nonprofit organization committed to ensuring social justice and promoting sustainability in the natural and built environment. The client enlisted the Capstone team to conduct research on the characteristics and drivers of informal settlements in Belize City. The team was also asked to make recommendations in support of an intervention to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 to “make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable” and the New Urban Agenda of “leaving no one behind.” The team developed and designed research methodologies, including interviews, surveys, and focus groups within informal settlements and across government agencies. The team’s research findings concluded that informal settlements pose a risk for Belize City because it is located on water catchment areas that provide important ecosystem services for urban development. To achieve the desired changes, the team proposed a sites and services model for the client based on the team’s institutional analysis and risk assessment framework.