Cities at Risk Planning for and Recovering from Natural Disasters Global Urban Studies Series

As levels of urbanization increase around the world, the growing concentrations of population and economic activity increases vulnerability to natural disasters. Interdependencies among urban populations mean that damage to the built environment, including water, sewer and energy infrastructure, can affect millions. Even if there is no change in the rate of occurrence of natural disasters (an unlikely prospect in the face of ongoing climate change) the potential for human and economic loss will continue to increase, along with the time required to recover. How do cities prepare for and recover from natural disasters? In this book, the authors provide a broad overview of the issues related to the impacts of disasters on cities around the world, from assessing risks to accounting for damages. The comparative approach across different types of disasters in a range of urban locations is useful in identifying opportunities for policy transfer. While there is no ?one size fits all? solution to hazard mitigation, valuable lessons can be learned from the experiences of others. The chapters emphasize different modes for assessing hazard risk, as well as strategies for increasing the resiliency of vulnerable populations.

Contents: Introduction: urban resilience efforts in the face of natural disasters, Pierre Filion, Mark Skidmore and Gary Sands; Enhancing hazard resilience among impoverished urban communities in Ghana: the role of women as catalysts for improvement, Robin L. Ersing, Osman Alhassan, Jesse Sey Ayivor and Kiki Caruson; An analysis of governmental performance during urban disasters: Fukushima and Hurricane Sandy, Saundra K. Schneider and Marty P. Jordan; Urban disaster recovery: considerations for damage reduction and sustainability, Zhila Pooyan; The earthquakes in Lisbon (1755) and Angra do Heroismo (1980): reconstruction processes and actual risk, Artur Feio, Roberto Bologna, Daniel Monteiro and Daniel Felix; From disaster to opportunity: reviving urban function after the Canterbury earthquakes, Joanne Stevenson, Sonia Giovinazzi, Erica Seville, Charlotte Brown, Yan (Alice) Chang-Richards and Suzanne Wilkinson; Adaptive strategies of urban disaster recovery planning, Mark Kammerbauer; Urban vulnerability and resiliency to natural disasters: an integrative tourism planning perspective, Hyun Kim and David W. Marcouiller; Computing the aggregate cost of a disaster: national and regional issues, Charles Steindel; Conclusion: stages and scales of urban resilience strategies, Gary Sands, Pierre Filion and Mark Skidmore; Index.

Pierre Filion is Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Waterloo in Ontario Canada. Gary Sands is Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning at Wayne State University in Detroit. Mark Skidmore is Professor of Economics at Michigan State University where he holds the Morris Chair in State and Local Government Finance.