Impacts of Land Use/Land Cover Change and Climate Change on Natural Hazards in Tropical Regions: Synthesis Review and Relevance to the Kinshasa (DRC) Context

This literature review investigates the combined impacts of Land Use/Land Cover Change (LULCC) and climate change on natural hazards in tropical regions, emphasizing their relevance to Kinshasa. Using a thematic, narrative approach and 144 selected references, the study synthesizes global and regional findings on how urbanization, deforestation, and climate variability exacerbate hazards such as flooding, landslides, erosion, urban drought, and biodiversity loss. Key mechanisms include increased impervious surfaces, loss of natural buffers, hydrological disruption, and altered microclimates. In Kinshasa, these effects are amplified by fragile soils, steep topography, and rapid, unplanned urban growth. The study highlights how LULCC drives soil degradation, reduces groundwater recharge, and intensifies flash floods and urban heat islands. Concurrently, climate change increases extreme rainfall and drought risk, interacting with land cover changes to amplify vulnerability. The results show that Kinshasa’s environmental risks stem from both climatic forces and anthropogenic pressures, producing nonlinear, synergistic hazard dynamics. The review concludes that integrated, spatially explicit risk assessments are essential for informing adaptive urban planning and resilience strategies. It provides a conceptual foundation for modeling hazard interactions in Kinshasa and supports the development of targeted mitigation measures in rapidly urbanizing tropical cities.