Safe cities course

Safe Cities is a specialization course that provides an overview of sound disaster risk management practice for local government policymakers, urban managers, planners, and disaster management professionals.

It discusses the inter-linkages of the social and physical parameters of vulnerability in cities and municipalities with their local government development, organization, and management. It explains the impediments to disaster risk reduction in urban environments and then presents the key concepts of disaster risk management and the role and intervention of local institutions. It emphasizes that disaster risk reduction only takes place when it is inherently integrated within local government functions.

Course Objectives

This specialization course addresses the particular concerns of urban managers and planners. It reviews processes, regulations – land use, infrastructure, construction, building codes – enforcement issues and methods essential to reducing exposure to hazards and limiting the physical vulnerability of high density settlements.

Course Contents

The course consists of an introduction, the basic learning materials and a discussion forum to facilitate the learning via interaction with program faculty.

The introduction includes a short course description, review of learning objectives and outcomes, and a summary of main issues. The basic learning materials consist of 30 to 35 minute slide show presentations, case studies and readings, quizzes, a final exam and an end of the course project.

The course provides three case studies to illustrate different approaches to disaster risk reduction, the related organizational, institutional and financial parameters, and how these experiments have supported sustainable development goals in different cities.