iclei launched the resilient cities report 2016 at the habitat iii conference in quito.

water-related health risks: responding to dengue fever in tainan city, chinese taipei
although the occurrence of dengue in tainan city,chinese taipei has been averaging 263 cases per year in the past 15 years, in the summer of 2015 the city recorded more than 20,000 cases and 100 deaths (centers for disease control, 2016). the outbreak was caused by a series of extreme weather events – severe drought followed by heavy rains and two majortyphoons – which ｃｒｅａｔｅd highly favorable conditions for mosquitoes. having underestimated the risk, the city did not take early action against the proliferation of the aedes aegypti and were initially unprepared for the epidemic that followed.
as the number of dengue cases rose, command centers were established to promote inter-agency coordination and to provide trainings for volunteers, educational activities for students, medical workshops, and constant district-by-district monitoring and evaluation.the use of open data together with conventional and social media platforms highlighted the relevance of co-produced data and analysis for informed decision-making.
a bottom-up campaign led by village heads and volunteers advanced efforts to eliminate mosquito larvae by inspecting and cleaning households, vacant land, and abandoned infrastructure with breeding sites for the mosquitoes. meanwhile, more resources, equipment and health professionals were allocated to tainan city. agreements with regional hospitals were established to provide free testing and special medical treatment for dengue fever patients with immediate diagnosis and reporting.
with consorted efforts, the rate of new cases started to ｄｒｏｐ steadily, with less than 10 cases observed in the last months of the year. tainan owes its success to effective collaboration between the local government and the communities and to a combination of top-down policy instructions and bottom-up community initiatives. based on the experience of 2015, the city was well-prepared for the rainy season of 2016 and was able to avoid an outbreak and keep the dengue cases during these months on average below 1 case (centers for disease control, 2016).