This chapter unpacks the highly complex and value-laden terms ‘urban poverty’ and ‘climate change’, with a specific focus on who the urban poor are, where they live and how climate change exacerbates their existing vulnerabilities. With particular emphasis on everyday, lived experiences, the chapter demonstrates how the urban poor are already coping and/or adapting to these impacts in diverse ways. Finally, the chapter draws together the key concepts (e.g. participation, co-creation, resilience and transformation) noted above, exploring their relevance to current policy and planning on urban poverty and climate change. Three key themes drawn from the two research projects and associated papers are used to structure the remainder of the book – vulnerability, adaptation and the built environment; understanding change and adaptation: from institutional interface to co-production; and from learning to knowledge, innovation to action.