Urban areas face daunting environmental, economic and social challenges that have increased in scope in recent years, especially given climate change and globalization. At the same time, cities provide exciting opportunities for growth and revitalization of local and national economies. The interplay of these challenges and opportunities create important tasks for policymakers and researchers. This book provides a new horizon for exploring solutions to urban problems, especially water-related disasters in urban areas. It is of a cross-disciplinary nature offering both new concepts and practices that will help to promote communication between urban planning communities and water management professionals in order to integrate water-related disaster management into spatial planning.

Urban areas face daunting environmental, economic and social challenges that have increased in scope in recent years, especially given climate change and globalization. At the same time, cities provide exciting opportunities for growth and revitalization of local and national economies. The interplay of these challenges and opportunities create important tasks for policymakers and researchers. This book provides a new horizon for exploring solutions to urban problems, especially water-related disasters in urban areas. It is of a cross-disciplinary nature offering both new concepts and practices that will help to promote communication between urban planning communities and water management professionals in order to integrate water-related disaster management into spatial planning.

Urban Planning for Disaster Recovery focuses on disaster recovery from the perspective of urban planning, an underutilized tactic that can significantly reduce disaster risks. The book examines disaster risk reduction (DRR), in particular, the recovery stage of what is widely known as the disaster cycle. The theoretical underpinning of the book derives from a number of sources in urban planning and disaster management literature, and is illustrated by a series of case studies. It consists of five sections, each of which opens with a conceptual framework that is followed by a series of supporting and illustrative cases as practical examples. These examples both complement and critique the theoretical base provided, demonstrating the need to apply the concepts in location-specific ways. Examines disaster recovery from an urban planning perspective Illustrates key concepts with real-world case studies Explores the contributions of experts, urban planners, NGOs, and community members

This book discusses what it means for cities to work toward and achieve resilience in the face of climate change. The content takes an urban planning perspective with a water-related focus, exploring the continued global and local efforts in improving disaster risk management within the water sphere. Chapters examine four cities in the US and Germany - San Francisco, San Diego, Solingen and Wuppertal - as the core case studies of the discussion. The chapters for each case delve into the current status of the cities and issues resilience must overcome, and then explore solutions and key takeaways learned from the implementation of various resilience approaches. The book concludes with a summary of cross-cutting themes, best-practice examples and a reflection on the relevance of the approaches to cases in the wider developing world. This book engages both practitioners and scientific audiences alike, particularly those interested in issues addressed by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the recent Water Action Decade 2018-2028 and the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities.

This book focuses on policies and governance on how to build the resilience of cities to droughts and floods in the short-, medium-, and long-term. There are discussions on how cities prepare for, cope with, learn from, manage, and recover from these extreme events. The chapters also consider aspects such as changing paradigms, policy responses under uncertainty, scenario development, institutional responses, adaptive forecasting, governance perspectives, infrastructure development, overall investments, and technological innovation. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction are discussed at length. Most of the cities and regions studied are in Asia, however, cities from Oceania, Europe, Africa, and North America are also included. Analyses are not limited to cities but to the basins and regions from which urban populations obtain their resources, and on which their resilience depends. This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Water Resources Development.

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.

Urban Disasters and Resilience in Asia presents the latest information on the intensity and frequency of disasters. Specifically, the fact that, in urban areas, more than 50% of the world's population is living on just 2% of the land surface, with most of these cities located in Asia and developing countries that have high vulnerability and intensification. The book offers an in-depth and multidisciplinary approach to reducing the impact of disasters by examining specific evidence from events in these areas that can be used to develop best practices and increase urban resilience worldwide. As urban resilience is largely a function of resilient and resourceful citizens, building cities which are more resilient internally and externally can lead to more productive economic returns. In an era of rapid urbanization and increasing disaster risks and vulnerabilities in Asian cities, Urban Disasters and Resilience in Asia is an invaluable tool for policy makers, researchers, and practitioners working in both public and private sectors. Explores a broad range of aspects of disaster and urban resiliency, including environmental, economic, architectural, and engineering factors Bridges the gap between urban resilience and rural areas and community building Provides evidence-based data that can lead to improved disaster resiliency in urban Asia Focuses on Asian cities, some of the most densely populated areas on the planet, where disasters are particularly devastating