In Semarang city, almost everyone loses, but the heaviest burden is placed on local poor communities who are probably uninformed about the fact that their city is sinking due to land subsidence combined with multiple risk including coastal inundation, floods, etc. In his article for the Jakarta Post, Jonatan Lassa discusses complex problems faced by Semarang city.
He also shares recent initiatives supported by Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN). "Our study suggests that despite limitations in terms of scale, it is clear that community-based microfinance can be an alternative tool not only for reducing household vulnerability to floods and inundation but it can also be used as strategic tool for risk reduction and adaptation elsewhere," writes Jonatan Lassa.