Resilient Economies Strategies for Sinking Cities and Flood Risks 2025

Images: Getty Images and Adobe Stock Disclaimer This document is published by the World Economic Forum as a contribution to a project, insight area or interaction. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are a result of a collaborative process facilitated and endorsed by the World Economic Forum but whose results do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum, nor the entirety of its Members, Partners or other stakeholders. © 2025 World Economic Forum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.Contents Foreword 3 Executive summary 4 Introduction: Sinking cities 5 Why should governments and businesses care? 5 What are the economic, social and environmental implications? 6 How to use this report 10 1 Sinking landscape 11 1.1 How widespread is urban sinking? 12 1.2 Why do cities sink? 13 1.3 What are the barriers to action? 16 2 Case studies and solutions 17 2.1 Tokyo’s comeback: the first sinking city to stabilize 18 2.2 Shanghai’s evolution: integrating policy and sponge city 21 2.3 Rotterdam’s resilience: engineering a future on water 23 2.4 Jakarta’s actions: confronting subsidence and flooding 26 2.5 What solutions are adopted by cities? 28 3 The way forward 30 3.1 Is a mindset shift needed to make progress? 31 3.2 What are the key enablers of positive change? 34 3.3 What actions can the public and private sectors take? 37 Conclusion 41 Contributors 42 Endnotes 43 Resilient Economies: Strategies for Sinking Cities and Flood Risks 2