Experts have noted the limited attention being paid to climate change adaptation within sectoral and regional policies, in India. Our paper looks at both spatial-planning and infrastructure-enabled development trajectories and policy-driven and culturally embedded pathways in urban and rural areas. It also alerts policy makers and implementers to the dangers of path dependency. We find that our current and future capacity for adapting to climate change, in both urban and rural areas, is constrained by pathways which have caused irreversible lock-ins, or extensive social-ecological damage. Reflecting on the impacts of past decisions aimed at development provides a basis for crafting future adaptation policies with full awareness of potential maladaptation.
