Asian disaster management news, May-August 2007, vol. 13 no. 2: emerging risks and approaches for reducing vulnerabilities of the urban built environment
This issue of the Asian Disaster Management News highlights "emerging risks and approaches for reducing vulnerabilities of the urban built environment".
Cities in Asia and in other parts of the world are in various stages of development. The ongoing trends of population growth, environmental damage, increasing crime rate, exploitation of natural resources, globalization and more importantly ignorance will have a long lasting impact on the future of the society. The risks that grow hand in hand in the process of city expansion are also large. As the growth is too rapid and inorganic in nature, these problems pose a special challenge for administrators, planners, professionals and citizens. Rapid expansion of the cities also means high concentration of people, infrastructure and economic value in confined limits and therefore, the damage and loss potential is usually very high compared to the surrounding or rural areas. Many cities have been expanding over zones of severe hazards and with inadequate planning considerations to mitigate the impacts of the hazard; cities are destined to be affected from major natural disasters. The engines of economic growth are also the harbour for major risks. A single loss event in one of the major cities can have far reaching consequences for various sectors. Holistic solution and risk prevention strategies should be developed in time and the development framework of the urban area should incorporate the risk management to ensure control of risks in the future. the newsletter aims to bring the reader's attention to the underlying risk in the urban areas and the challenges and the opportunities for mitigation planning.