Babbage: How to save cities from sinking

<p>Many of the <a href="https://www.economist.com/china/2023/06/05/china-is-acutely-vulnerable-to-rising-sea-levels?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=babbage&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">world’s most important urban areas</a> are on coastlines or rivers, putting them at risk of rising sea levels. Rapid urbanisation and climate change are conspiring to make this threat more urgent. How can cities adapt to avoid catastrophe?&nbsp;</p><br><p><em>The Economist</em>’s Benjamin Sutherland explores how well new <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2020/07/16/venice-tests-its-mighty-flood-defences?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=babbage&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">flood defences</a> work in Venice and <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2023/05/24/why-venetians-are-pondering-raising-their-entire-city?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=babbage&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">why Venetians are pondering raising the city’s foundations</a>. Alizée Jean-Baptiste, <em>The Economist</em>’s Asia podcast producer, visits Jakarta, to investigate why Indonesia’s government is choosing to build <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-world-ahead/2022/11/18/jokowi-is-carving-a-new-indonesian-capital-out-of-the-borneo-jungle?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=babbage&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">an entirely new capital city</a>, in a new location, in their attempt to adapt to future flooding. Plus, Catherine Brahic, our environment editor, explores the p