Natural Disasters and their Impact on Cities

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Skidmore ◽  
Jungmin Lim
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
Technological Systems ◽  
Urban Disaster ◽  
Heat Vulnerability

Two significant trends suggest that it will be increasingly important to consider urban resilience to natural disasters in the coming years. First, there is a consensus among most climate scientists that we are experiencing a period of significant and ongoing climate change, and it is expected that there will be an increase in the number and severity of extreme climate events in the coming years. Second, the global population is increasingly becoming urbanized, and many cities are located in coastal areas that are vulnerable to severe climatic events. As these trends play out over time, the potential for disaster losses and impact increases. At the same time, the growth of urban populations produces greater concentrations of people vulnerable to natural disasters. When disasters strikes in rural areas, there may be damage to structures and crops, but compared to urban areas, recovery and the restoration of basic functions is relatively straightforward. However, given the concentration of people and complexity of systems, urban disasters can lead to significantly greater impacts. Preparation for and recovery from major urban disasters is of paramount importance in order to minimize these losses. Further, natural disasters represent a significant threat to key technological systems that support urban life. The failure of technological systems due to disasters is a major concern to urban planners and policymakers, as lengthy disruptions are an ongoing threat to life well after the direct impacts conclude. This bibliography summarizes a body of work on natural disaster impacts in cities. It is organized into five sections. The first section presents research on the growing General Overviews: Disaster Risk in Cities and Urban Areas, with an emphasis on low-lying coastal or riverside locations. This section also highlights the consensus among urban planning scholars that disaster risk management should be integrated into urban planning and management more generally. Section 2 considers the Various Impacts of Natural Disasters on Cities and Urban Areas, including economic and labor market impacts, effects on housing markets and property values, and health impacts, including loss of life. In section 3, a series of articles on Urban Disaster Vulnerability and Risk Factors are summarized, focusing on the underlying societal conditions and systems that determine vulnerability. Section 4, Extreme Heat in Urban Areas, considers the narrower topic of heat vulnerability, which is very important given that many urban areas generate heat islands. The last section addresses Disaster Management and Mitigation in Cities and Urban Areas, including the political and governance challenges of implementing adaptation strategies, measuring and building resilience, and recovery and reconstruction.

Exploring Network Analysis for Urban Planning and Disaster Risk Reduction in Informal Settlements

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-45
Author(s):  
Vicente Sandoval ◽  
Juan Pablo Sarmiento ◽  
Erick Alberto Mazariegos ◽  
Daniel Oviedo
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Centrality Measures ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
Street Networks

The work explores the use of street network analysis on informal settlements and discusses the potential and limitations of this methodology to advance disaster risk reduction and urban resilience. The urban network analysis tool is used to conduct graph analysis measures on street networks in three informal settlements in the LAC region: Portmore, Jamaica; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Lima, Peru. Authors incorporate risk variables identified by these communities and combine them with prospective scenarios in which street networks are strategically intervened to improve performance. Authors also compute one graph index named Reach centrality. Results are presented spatially through thematic maps, and statistically by plotting cumulative distributions. Findings show that centrality measures of settlements' networks helped identify key nodes or roads that may be critical for people's daily life after disasters, and strategic to improve accessibility. The proposed methodology shows potential to inform decisions on urban planning and disaster risk reduction.

Urban Sociology

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Monti
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Sociology ◽  
Far East ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Sociological Inquiry ◽  
Urban Settlements ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Urban Places ◽  
The Way

Urban sociology is among the earliest and richest areas of sociological inquiry. It touches on topics and problems related to the way urban areas develop and the way people live in urban areas. While most of the attention of urban sociologists has been on more contemporary urban settings in Western societies, they’ve shown increasing interest in urban development and urban life in so-called developing countries and the Far East, especially India and China. By nature an interdisciplinary pursuit, five major academic fields contribute to urban sociology: anthropology, economics, history, political science, and social psychology. Specialists in these respective disciplines read and cite each other’s work and borrow from each other’s theoretical insights. One major profession, urban planning, is affiliated with urban sociology. It, too, has its own entry in Oxford Bibliographies in Geography “Urban Planning and Geography”. Another broad field that draws on all the same intellectual sources is urban studies. It was added to the curricula of US colleges and universities in the late 1960s in response to the turmoil that was occurring in many urban areas at that time. Given all the rich disciplinary sources that feed into urban sociology, this area of inquiry probably can be best understood by the themes that allow researchers to connect the disparate kinds of studies they do. The several sections into which this essay is divided have works that reflect one or more of the following four themes: (1) Urban sociologists focus on either the physical development of urban places (i.e., urbanization) or the way of life or culture practiced there (i.e., urbanism). (2) The work of urban sociologists asks how urban places are built and laid out. It also asks how urban settlements might be rebuilt or developed so they better serve or complement the way people live there. (3) Some urban sociologists look at smaller groups or venues such as neighborhoods (i.e., “micro” studies). Others look at much larger geographic areas and whole communities (i.e., “macro” studies). (4) Persons who do this kind of work tend to be either optimistic about the prospects for urban places and people or, more frequently, pessimistic about how well they will fare.

Challenges for Decision Support in Urban Disaster Scenarios

2011 ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
Sergio F. Ochoa ◽  
José A. Pino
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Urban Disaster ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Society Today ◽  
Economical Losses

An urgent challenge confronting society today is the vulnerability of urban areas to “eXtreme” Events (XEs) (Mileti, 1999; CWR, 2002; Godschalk, 2003). These hazardous situations include natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods, as well as accidental and intentional disasters such as fires and terrorist attacks. At the global level, a total of 608 million people were affected by these disasters in 2002, out of which 24,500 died (IFRC, 2003). The economic damages to property and the environment were estimated at $27 billion dollars (IFRC, 2003). From January to October 2005, the number of people killed in disasters globally was estimated at 97,490 and the economical losses were approximately U.S. $159 billion (WHO, 2006). These significant human and economic costs emphasize the urgent need to reduce the vulnerability of urban areas to XEs (Mileti, 1999; CWR, 2002; Godschalk, 2003), improve the impact of relief team actions in these situations (NRC, 1999; NSTC, 2003), and the decision making process (Stewart, 2002; Mendonca, 2007).

Assessment of the attractiveness of rural areas in terms of internal migration in Russia and the EU countries

2021 ◽  
pp. 40-47
Author(s):  
N.V. Vorontsova ◽  
◽  
A.V. Merzlov ◽  
R.R. Mukhametzyanov ◽  
N.G. Platonovskiy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Internal Migration ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
Reverse Flow ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Innovative Capabilities ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Those born in rural areas move to urban areas for both temporary and permanent residence. In general, urbanization is expanding in the world, as evidenced by the increase in the proportion of the urban population. However, recently, in parallel with urbanization, especially in the developed countries of Europe, there has been a reverse flow - the resettlement of a certain part of the urban population to the countryside. It attracts city dwellers with a comparatively better ecological situation, the presence of wide spaces and a sense of freedom. All of this is also supported by modern innovative capabilities. Information and digital technologies are increasingly blurring the boundaries between urban and rural areas. However, the attractiveness of rural areas for permanent habitation in a number of cases, including in our country, is reduced due to the lack of adequate urban living conditions for life and urban-centric state policy. This primarily affects rural areas remote from cities. At the same time, the suburbs, especially megacities, are the most attractive in terms of internal migration. It accommodates the conditions of urban life and the advantage of rural areas. The article touches upon the issues of internal migration of the urban population to the countryside in Russia and a number of European countries (on the example of France and Germany). In this regard, it was noted that this tendency exists, and with an increase in dynamics. As a result of the study, the factors that influence the decision-making by the townspeople to move to settlements located in agricultural areas were identified, and a set of criteria was proposed to assess their attractiveness from the point of view of internal migration of the population.

scholarly journals Urbanisation and the incidence of eating disorders

2006 ◽  
Vol 189 (6) ◽  
pp. 562-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriëlle E. Van Son ◽  
Daphne Van Hoeken ◽  
Aad I. M. Bartelds ◽  
Eric F. Van Furth ◽  
Hans W. Hoek
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Anorexia Nervosa ◽  
Risk Factor ◽  
Bulimia Nervosa ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Environmental Risk Factor ◽  
Promising Avenue

SummaryThe link between degree of urbanisation and a number of mental disorders is well established. Schizophrenia, psychosis and depression are known to occur more frequently in urban areas. In our primary care-based study of eating disorders, the incidence of bulimia nervosa showed a dose–response relation with degree of urbanisation and was five times higher in cities than in rural areas. Remarkably, anorexia nervosa showed no association with urbanisation. We conclude that urban life is a potential environmental risk factor for bulimia nervosa but not for anorexia nervosa. These findings provide a promising avenue for further research into the aetiology of eating disorders.

scholarly journals The Japanese Educational System as an International Model for Urban Resilience

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 5794
Author(s):  
Elisa Gavari-Starkie ◽  
María-Francisca Casado-Claro ◽  
Inmaculada Navarro-González
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Informal Education ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Human Factor ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Global Cities ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
International Model

Global cities in the context of accelerated urbanization have to deal with more diverse risk factors than ever before, which highlights the need for a faster and more creative response capacity. Although it is necessary to strengthen technical systems, since they are surrounded by human systems, individual resilience will help to strengthen the community. The educational system is key to developing the human factor in a world where various systems in global cities are increasingly interconnected, which in turn increases risks. Japan is fostering a culture of disaster risk reduction in both the formal, non-formal, and informal education sectors, in which creativity and autonomy are key competencies. Tokyo is the highest populated metropolitan area globally, and its educational system is the international model for education in disaster risk reduction. Urban areas around the world face similar challenges and experience similar needs. This article addresses the challenges that the human factor faces in large cities and the possibilities of increasing resilience in both individuals and communities through Disaster Resilience Education (DRE), taking the Japanese educational system as a model.

scholarly journals A Scientometric Review of Urban Disaster Resilience Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 3677
Author(s):  
Hui Xu ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Yongtao Tan ◽  
Ninghui Deng
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
High Growth ◽  
Urban System ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
High Growth Rate ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Urban Disaster

Natural disasters and human-made disasters are threatening urban areas globally. The resilience capacity of the urban system plays an important role in disaster risk response and recovery. Strengthening urban disaster resilience is also fundamental to ensuring sustainable development. Various practices and research for enhancing urban disaster resilience have been carried out worldwide but are yet to be reviewed. Accordingly, this paper gives a scientometric review of urban disaster resilience research by using CiteSpace. The time span (January 2001–January 2021) was selected and divided into three phases based on the number of publications. In addition, according to keyword statistics and clustering results, the collected articles are grouped into four hotspot topics: disaster risk reduction, specific disaster resilience research, resilience assessment, and combination research. The results show that most of the existing research is in the first two categories, and articles in the second and fourth categories both show a high growth rate and could be further research directions. The review indicates that urban disaster resilience is essential for a city’s sustainable development. Moreover, the findings provide scholars a full picture of the existing urban disaster resilience research which can help them identify promising research directions. The findings can also help urban government officials and policymakers review current urban disaster management strategies and make further improvements.

scholarly journals Attitudes toward newcomers from the city. The case of urban-rural fringe of Krakow

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-47
Author(s):  
Halina Pawlak
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Rural Environment ◽  
Life Styles ◽  
Metropolitan Cities ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
The City ◽  
Ways Of Life

Abstract Rural-urban areas are currently characterised by a high rate of economic development. One of the results of these changes is the inflow of urban populations, who are very different from the indigenous inhabitants. In spite of the move to a rural environment, they often preserve their customs and urban life styles; while, on the other hand, the indigenous inhabitants of rural areas tend to present traditional attitudes towards life. They are strongly attached to their land and identify with their place of residence. The author focuses on the attitudes expressed toward newcomers from Krakow and other metropolitan cities by the inhabitants of selected municipalities within the Krakow Metropolitan Area (KOM). The attitudes toward styles, ways of life, values, as well as preferences brought by the urban population were investigated.

scholarly journals DYNAMICS OF SPATIO-TEMPORAL URBAN EXPANSION IN SOUTH WEST DELHI REGION: A GEO-SPATIAL APPROACH FOR URBAN DISASTER MANAGEMENT

2019 ◽  
Vol XLII-3/W8 ◽  
pp. 373-379
Author(s):  
N. Sharma ◽  
A. Kaur ◽  
P. Bose
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Urban Disaster ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Impact

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Constantly increasing population and up-scaling economic growth has certainly contributed to fast-paced urban expansion, but simultaneously, as a result, has developed immense pressure on our natural resources. Among other unfavorable consequences, this has led to significant changes in the land use and land cover patterns in megacities all across the globe. As the impact of uncontrolled and unplanned development continues to alter life patterns, it has become imperative to study severe problems resulting from rapid development and leading to environmental pollution, disruptions in ecological structures, ever increasing pressure on natural resources and recurring urban disasters This paper presents an approach to address these challenges using geospatial data to study the land use and land cover change and the patterns and processes of urban growth. Spatio-temporal changes in land-use/land-cover were assessed over the years using multi-date high resolution satellite data. The land use classification was conducted using visual image interpretation technique wherein, study area was categorized into five different classes based on NRSC classification system namely agricultural, built-up, urban green (forest), and fallow land and water bodies. Post-classification change detection technique was used for the assessment of land-cover change and transition matrices of urban expansion were developed to quantify the changes. The results show that the city has been expanding majorly in its borders, where land masses have been converted from agriculture based rural areas to urban structures. An increase in the built-up category was observed with the transformation of agricultural and marginal land with an approximate change of 8.62% in the peri-urban areas. Urban areas are becoming more densely populated and open barren lands are converted into urban areas due to over population and migration from the rural areas of Delhi and thus increasing threat towards urban disaster. Conservation and sustainable management of various natural resources is recommended in order to minimize the impact of potential urban disasters.</p>

scholarly journals Measuring Resilience of Urban Slum to Climate Induced Disasters: A Study on Barishal City Corporation, Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-47
Author(s):  
Ananya Mukherjee ◽  
Md. Faisal ◽  
Milton Kumar Saha
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Urban Slum ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Institutional Economic ◽  
Urban Disaster

Measuring urban resilience is one of the important processes toward understanding the potential current and future risks of cities, assessing the challenges of urbanization and to guide the development of urban areas. The research was conducted in a slum named Bangabandhu Colony under Barishal City Corporation (BCC). The purpose of the research was to measure the urban disaster resilience and to find out a better way of future urban disaster resilience in this area. Climate Disaster Resilience Index (CDRI) was used to measure climate-related disaster resilience by considering five dimensions: physical, social, institutional, economic and natural which shows resilience level ranging from 1-5 where 1 representing very poor and 5 best. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for collecting the primary data and the secondary data was collected from secondary sources. Results revealed that the resilience level of physical, social, institutional, economic, and natural dimensions was 2.76, 2.79, 2.29, 2.53, 2.59 respectively, which indicates a medium resilience level of all dimensions. Finally, the research depicted that, the resilience level of the area will increase through hand to hand working of people with government and non-government officials, conducting public awareness programs, campaigns, seminars and discussions. The findings of the research can be used by researchers and development workers for enhancing disaster resilience of other areas under Barishal City Corporation as well as other city areas of Bangladesh.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document