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The resilient city plays an increasingly important role in coping with the challenges raised by economic, social, and environmental risks. In this review, we examine approximately 27,094 papers published in the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) and perform extensive bibliometric and scientometric analyses to identify the research themes, evolutionary history, and potential research trends in the state of the art in resilient city studies. Seven main resilient city research themes are identified, with significant differences persisting across regions. Specifically, the research on resilient cities in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America reveals clear regional characteristics in macro development planning and strategies, technological methods, urban economic growth, urban water resource protection, and so on. The analysis also reveals the collaborative networks among different countries and regions in the study of resilient cities. The evolutionary history of resilient city research shows that it has gradually evolved from a single research field into a multidisciplinary field and further formed a unique discipline. Moreover, the urban ecological environment, urban economic development, urban sprawl, and urban mobility have become key research hot spots and trends in resilient city research. This study provides a systematic and data-driven analytical demonstration of resilient city research, which provides empirical support for policy formulation and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization construction has always been one of the key development directions in China, and the process of urbanization faces many risks and challenges. In the context of complex and diverse urban risks, major public health risks are one of the most significant ones in terms of impact and destructive power. The outbreak of the COVID-19 at the beginning of 2020 has evolved from a public health event to a global economic and social crisis, reflecting that China has room for further improvement in the prevention and control system of major public health risks, and the modernization of urban governance has a long way to go. It is urgent to explore the establishment of a comprehensive prevention and control system for major public health risks in cities that is in line with the process of urban development in China. The general theoretical research on risk governance in the academic community is relatively rich. The research on the public health risk prevention and control system was mainly concentrated before 2010. After the outbreak of COVID-19, China's research on major public health risk governance was once again valued by the academic community. However, the existing research is generally decentralized and fragmentation, without forming systematic theories and views. Compared to previous studies, this article focuses on the development and evolution of major public health risks, integrates the concept of “full cycle management” and dynamic prevention and control, and takes the formation of comprehensive and full cycle closed-loop management as a breakthrough and innovation. It sorts out the theoretical framework of urban major public health risk assessment and decision-making mechanisms, breaks through the limitations of existing risk governance, and achieves full cycle coordination and full process integration, To ensure the lives, health, and social stability of the people, and provide directional inspiration for further improving the governance level of major public health risks in China. Based on the background of “risk society” and the principle of risk early warning, this paper follows the process of risk occurrence and puts forward the connotation of major urban public health risks in this paper on the basis of defining relevant concepts. Guided by the concept of “full cycle management”, combined with the 4R crisis management theory, risk management theory, and holistic governance theory, the dynamic core awareness throughout the entire risk prevention and control process is integrated to construct a theoretical framework for the dynamic prevention and control of major public health risks throughout the entire process. Based on the actual situation of social gatherings, the structural and functional characteristics that should be possessed in the dynamic prevention and control of major public health event risks throughout the entire process are determined. From the perspectives of “ considering system as the core” and “risk as the main line”, this paper makes a unified top-level design plan, exploring the practical path of constructing a risk assessment system that includes risk identification, risk assessment, risk assessment, and decision support, as well as a risk control mechanism that includes emergency response and normalized control, and designs a major urban public health risk control mechanism, which transforms from traditional consequence emergency response to early risk regulation prevention and control capabilities, and thus forming a major public health risk prevention and control system of “comprehensive risk assessment, early warning, precise dynamic response control” throughout the entire process. In this paper, risk control is divided into two processes: emergency response and normalized control, that is, to design an emergency response mechanism of multi-department coordination and a normalized control mechanism of major urban public health risks, so as to solve the dilemma of emergency fragmentation and form a full-cycle closed-loop management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to integrate macro-scale data with micro-scale data by considering the relationship between planning and geology, and to present a locally specific risk model against earthquakes. It is also aimed to develop a coordinated perspective in the planning system for earthquake risk. In Erzurum, one of the cities with high earthquake risk in Turkey, the extent to which the disaster is taken into account in the process of shaping the urban space, especially in new development areas, was investigated. The methodology of the study was based on literature studies related to the multi-criteria decision-making method, which is frequently used in the determination of urban earthquake risks. Based on the criteria of the "Combined Risk Model" used especially by Japan, a Building Collapse Risk Rating Map has been created for Osmangazi Neighborhood, whose development continues with development activities in Erzurum. According to this map, it was determined that 1.39% of the total number of zoning lots in the study area is very low risk, 48.59% is low risk, 41.25% is medium risk, 6.29% is high risk and 2.09% is very high risk. Accordingly, it has been determined that zoning conditions and construction activities in new development areas in Erzurum increase the earthquake risk.

Copyright of Revista Brasileira de Estudos Urbanos e Regionais is the property of Associacao Nacional de Pos-Graduacao e Pesquisa em Planejamento Urbano e Regional and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Natural Hazards & Environment (JNHE) / Doğal Afetler ve Çevre Dergisi (DACD) is the property of Artvin Coruh University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present study is aiming to assess tiltation and subsidence of the houses in the heart of the Agartala City based on near-surface electrical resistivity (ER). The near-surface electrical resistivity (ER) testing is done on the 13 sites within the city using Wenner-Alfa array. The field instrumentation is done by four-pin (electrode) method. The DC electrical current passes through the electrode at the same time. Each soil layer is represented by the single data set. The resistivity of the soil is calculated by 2лaR formula. The ER data is indicating best possible visualisation of the near subsurface (up to the depth of 15 m) imaging of the soil structure of the Agartala City and its surrounding areas. On the basis of spatial distribution of electrical resistivity reveals that the flood plain land with average elevation 12 m where less ER value (<150 Ωm) and the areas of dissected highlands (Tilla land) with average elevation are 30 m which are marked with high ER value (>300 Ωm). The ER data shows that Agartala and its surrounding areas are characterised by different types of soil which are related to different geomorphic and geological units. The dry sandy soil and sandy clay soil on the highland areas and wet sandy alluvium and clayey alluvium of the flood plain area make differences of ER data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the impacts of multi-hazard risk in urban areas is a fundamental step towards the adoption of resilience-enhancement and disaster prevention strategies, underpinning institutional adjustments aimed at improving the capacity of the authorities and stakeholders to manage risk. Within this framework, the work presented in this paper seeks to identify and analyze a set of exposure and buildings’ physical vulnerability indicators to be used as input to a parametric-based seismic vulnerability assessment methodology for the unreinforced masonry (URM) building stock of Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA). For this approach, data from the 2011 Census survey are used to define the parameters describing the building’s physical vulnerability and characterise the level of exposure in the study area. These results are then combined with the hazard component into a GIS tool. Seismic vulnerability results are presented for the URM building stock in LMA, and a more detailed analysis is conducted for the building stock of Setúbal municipality. Finally, risk outputs are presented and briefly discussed. Ultimately, understanding the impact and extent of multi-hazards can help prioritize resilience-increasing actions and disaster prevention measures to mitigate and manage natural hazards.

The research aimed to critically examine the technological risks and social mobilization that resulted from the installation of 4.5G mobile phone antenna technologies in Comuna 6, northeast Colombia, during the covid-19 health emergency. The citizens' views on the dangers of the technology to their health were taken into consideration. The findings, which were based on a qualitative technique, showed that the citizens linked the antennas with the generation of negative external forces, as inevitable evils, and with only benefit generators from a more technical determinism standpoint. The debate on technological coupling in society took the form of a reflective discourse that laid the foundation for absorbing uncertainty that resulted from misinformation and post-truth views regarding the relationship between covid-19 and the new 5G cell phone network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the role of technology in the tourism and urban risk nexus in South Africa. The autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) was used as a method of analysis whilst data on technology (the number of people with mobile cellular telephone subscriptions with access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) technology), tourism, exchange rate, foreign direct investment, economic growth, terms of trade, inflation rate, and urban risk (the monetary value of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission (damage) due to urbanisation) were extracted from the World Bank’s database on global development indicators. The study found that the interactive role of technology with tourism did not reduce urban risk in South Africa, rather it had a positive impact and negligibly promoted urban risk in the country. The study further revealed that the exchange rate, terms of trade, and economic growth positively and significantly promoted urban risk in South Africa due to urbanisation. Frameworks should be put in place to ameliorate the problems of urban risk in South Africa and to adopt a suitable technological innovation that will assist the process. Rather than reduce urban risk, the interactive role of technology with tourism promoted urban risk in South Africa.

Identifying fire risk in urban centres is instrumental for supporting informed decision-making and outlining efficient vulnerability mitigation strategies. Historic centres are particularly complex in this regard due to the high density of combustible materials in these areas, the favourable fire propagation conditions between buildings, and the complex urban morphology, which makes the evacuation of inhabitants difficult in case of a fire emergency. Recent safety regulations tend not to be fully applicable to historic city centres, where the specificities of the buildings, together with the need to safeguard their heritage value, make the rules for new buildings incompatible. For that reason, an adaptation of current evaluation methods is required to assure the safety of these places. The present paper aims to contribute to this topic by presenting and discussing the results obtained from the application of a simplified fire risk assessment methodology to a representative part of the historic city centre of Aveiro, Portugal. Data were collected through fieldwork building inspections and the results were mapped using a Geographic Information System tool. The study reveals that around 63% of the assessed buildings have a level of fire risk greater than the level of risk which is acceptable for buildings with this type of use and value. Based on the work developed, different mitigation strategies are suggested and compared. Finally, the results obtained in this work are compared with results published for historic urban areas with similar characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the role of technology in the tourism and urban risk nexus in South Africa. The autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) was used as a method of analysis whilst data on technology (the number of people with mobile cellular telephone subscriptions with access to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) technology), tourism, exchange rate, foreign direct investment, economic growth, terms of trade, inflation rate, and urban risk (the monetary value of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission (damage) due to urbanisation) were extracted from the World Bank’s database on global development indicators. The study found that the interactive role of technology with tourism did not reduce urban risk in South Africa, rather it had a positive impact and negligibly promoted urban risk in the country. The study further revealed that the exchange rate, terms of trade, and economic growth positively and significantly promoted urban risk in South Africa due to urbanisation. Frameworks should be put in place to ameliorate the problems of urban risk in South Africa and to adopt a suitable technological innovation that will assist the process. Rather than reduce urban risk, the interactive role of technology with tourism promoted urban risk in South Africa [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously, it has been shown that probabilistic seismic risk assessments (PSRAs) at urban scale present important discrepancies when compared with analyses conducted using methodologies from regional or national PSRA. However, conducting site-specific urban-scale analyses for a considerable number of cities may not be feasible due to limitations in time, resources, and in some cases availability of information, and thus more general models or methodologies are used. This brings into the picture the importance of identifying and quantifying the possible biases, discrepancies, and uncertainties when using different methods, both in the hazard and vulnerability components. Regarding the latter, several sources of uncertainty and biases have been identified in 1) the selection of ground motion records, either by using a general pool of records such as the ones from FEMA P695 or by performing a site- or hazard-specific analysis that requires a significant effort, especially in areas with a poor history of seismic instrumentation and even more in regions with no evidence of previous PSRA at all; and 2) the fragility or vulnerability derivation nonlinear dynamic methods: incremental dynamic analysis [IDA], cloud analysis [CA], and multi-stripe Analysis [MSA], among others. Focusing on these sources of uncertainty and bias, and with the challenge to bring solutions for places with scarce information, in this study, we aim to explore the use of different vulnerability derivation assumptions for the three principal cities of Colombia: Bogota, Medellin, and Cali, where most of the economic growth is concentrated. This considers the different seismic hazard levels and tectonic environment contributions in each city. Afterward, a comparison between the results of the analysis without the hazard-specific record selection and the site-specific one for each city is performed to establish the cases in which the former is applicable without adding more biases or uncertainties in the process.

This paper introduces a hybrid governance—referring to situations where state and non‐state actors collectively provide key services—perspective to disaster management. It contends that hybridity is often the norm rather than the exception in disaster management, particularly in developing countries where the state is frequently weak and may be unable or unwilling to supply essential services. In these instances, risks are addressed by state and non‐state entities, ranging from citizens and non‐governmental organisations to customary authorities. Given their important role in risk reduction, the disruption of hybrid processes by attempting to bring them within the remit of the state may create rather than diminish risk. To make this argument, the paper first outlines the key tenants of hybridity and their applicability to disasters before illustrating hybridity through three case studies of hybrid risk management in three cities in Africa: Freetown, Sierra Leone; Monrovia, Liberia; and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Investigación Bibliotecológica is the property of UNAM, Centro Universitario de Investigaciones Bibliotecologicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Urban Communities are exposed to different disaster risks. The paper aims at understanding the interrelation of spatial planning and the resilience of the urban communities for earthquakes and floods. Various spatial planning components were used to evaluate the community resilience to earthquake and flood in the city of Pune of Maharashtra state in India. It has been identified that spatial planning contributes to a greater extent in determining community resilience. Spatial planning results in differential resilience among communities. In the study area, economically weaker households are found to be more vulnerable to disaster risk due to their spatial locations and limited accessibility to share the resources. These factors are found to be contributing to reduced resilience in the city.

Abstract This study explores risk transfer options that precarious and marginal urban communities could use to protect themselves from future damages and losses generated by socio-natural hazards and disasters at the individual and community levels. The design is framed within an evidence-based disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategy and follows the case study research approach. We analyze the 2018 Neighborhood Approach for DRR programming evaluation carried out in four Latin American cities’ informal settlements and review relevant risk transfer experiences aimed at vulnerable populations. We calculate the pure risk premium for the four cases selected, using a previous catastrophe risk assessment for earthquakes and landslides. We propose three risk transfer options based on our analysis: (1) voluntary collective insurance; (2) structural reinforcement with a comprehensive housing insurance; and (3) hybrid parametric insurance. Risk transfer mechanisms conventionally focus on residual risk management. Here, due to the precariousness of the analyzed urban settings, the proposed alternatives go beyond the management of just residual risk to positively impact the beneficiaries’ quality of life and the reduction of the built environment’s physical vulnerability in the short and medium terms. Our study proposes a prospective estimation of future risk despite the limitations of data availability. This study opens a window to new approaches and proposes a systematic process to design DRR policy aimed at the poor and vulnerable strata of society.

Disasters can damage the safety and well-being of people and communities.A good understanding of the current situation is essential in preventing or mitigating the negative effects of disasters, as well as strengthening the response of at-risk communities to adverse impacts. It is aimed to make a rating by obtaining a resilience score with the resilient city assessment, which reveals the preparedness of cities for disasters. In this context, Safe City Assessment Scorecard in Disasters, which was prepared with 10 factors, 33 sub-factors and 100 indicator values, was applied in order to guide community resilience development activities. According to the data collection technique, it is in the category of documentary research and according to the nature of the data used in the research, it is in the category of research based on secondary data. The criterion sampling method was used in our study, which is a quantitative research type. The data were evaluated for 2 cities with shared metropolitan status and their names were coded as A and B. In order to measure the resilience level of cities, a normalized score was obtained in accordance with objective criteria and the scores were evaluated by leveling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of resilience, which emerged with the literature in the aim of ensuring the sustainability of ecosystems, especially in the last 10 years has been developed and has begun to be addressed many different topics and perspectives. Today's planning approaches are focused on socio-economic development and do not define the risks that may be required in the urban area beyond disasters. However, the concept is an important issue that should be considered in all scale plans. The aim of the study was to develop a viable method for identifying and evaluating risks in order to ensure urban resilience and increase their levels of plans to be produced, and developed the present method of directing spatial contribution plans. The developed method was implemented by integrating Izmit District Disaster Response Plan and Izmit Bay Integrated Coastal Areas Plan on the basis of Kocaeli Province into the construction stages as two plans with different scales and limits. It is aimed to discuss the applicability of the method developed within the scope of the study to other plans and, as a result, whether the realization and sustainability of the solution proposals for existing problems can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The disruption of a transportation network can have a high social and economic impact on the welfare of a society, as it can significantly affect the daily routines of a community. Although many studies have focused on the estimation of physical risk in the components that compose these networks, only a limited number have analyzed their interconnections and impact in the traffic flow. The present study analyzes how earthquake damage can disrupt the road network in an urban environment, and how this will influence the ability of the population to travel. Traffic due to daily commutes is modeled for different layouts of the network, corresponding to possible disruptions caused by earthquake damage. The duration and length of each trip were calculated both for the undamaged network conditions and for the disrupted network. The increase in the median duration and length of each trip allows estimating the economic loss for each event due to drivers' delay. By combining the probability of a specific road being blocked with its number of users, the average number of affected vehicles was estimated, and the most critical segments identified. The methodology was applied to a case study concerning the road network of the area around the Italian city of Messina in Sicily. The results were calculated for both a repetition of the well‐known historical event of 1908 and a set of simulated earthquakes consistent with the national probabilistic seismic hazard model of Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores risk transfer options that precarious and marginal urban communities could use to protect themselves from future damages and losses generated by socio-natural hazards and disasters at the individual and community levels. The design is framed within an evidence-based disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategy and follows the case study research approach. We analyze the 2018 Neighborhood Approach for DRR programming evaluation carried out in four Latin American cities' informal settlements and review relevant risk transfer experiences aimed at vulnerable populations. We calculate the pure risk premium for the four cases selected, using a previous catastrophe risk assessment for earthquakes and landslides. We propose three risk transfer options based on our analysis: (1) voluntary collective insurance; (2) structural reinforcement with a comprehensive housing insurance; and (3) hybrid parametric insurance. Risk transfer mechanisms conventionally focus on residual risk management. Here, due to the precariousness of the analyzed urban settings, the proposed alternatives go beyond the management of just residual risk to positively impact the beneficiaries' quality of life and the reduction of the built environment's physical vulnerability in the short and medium terms. Our study proposes a prospective estimation of future risk despite the limitations of data availability. This study opens a window to new approaches and proposes a systematic process to design DRR policy aimed at the poor and vulnerable strata of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intersecting challenges of urbanization, growing inequality, climate and environmental risk and economic sustainability require new modes of urban governance. Although the urban poor are increasingly recognized as needing to be part of climate adaptation planning and implementation, many governance arrangements fail to explicitly include them. In order to make climate governance more inclusive, transformative capacity is needed. Drawing on two case studies from different urban contexts in South Africa, this paper explores the nature of inclusive governance between local government and the urban poor and the extent to which this has contributed to transformative development trajectories. The findings suggest that inclusive governance will be strengthened when local government (1) recognizes the everyday reality of the urban poor and works with them to identify priorities for transformative change, (2) supports sustained intermediaries who are urban poor themselves and (3) draws on diverse modes of governance to find new ways to engage diverse actors and experiment with inclusive adaptation planning and practice. These practices will help to build transformative capacity that can envisage and enable new ways of governing urban risk and implementing adaptation that puts the poor, frequently most impacted by climate and disaster risk, at the centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential fires are a form of disaster that often occurs in urban areas especially in densely populated settlements. This study looks at possible mitigation scenarios for this kind of disaster. A case study was conducted in Babakan Ciparay Sub-District in Bandung City, among the densely populated settlements, and was focused especially on Sukahaji Village, a sub-unit of Babakan Ciparay, which is the most densely populated village in Bandung City with up to 234.14 people/ha. There have been six structural fires recorded from 2007 until 2010 occurring in Sukahaji. This study applied stratified random sampling as the preferred sampling technique and data collection method from a total population of 3,227 buildings. The data was then examined using risk analysis. The results have led to two intervention measures suggested as mitigation scenarios for residential fires that can be applied within the Sukahaji Village. The study concludes that mitigation measures through strengthening community capacity can be the principal option in reducing risk to fires in densely populated urban settlements.

The research presented in the paper intends to overcome an information gap on the evolution of urbanized surfaces in Italy which in the studies carried out so far have never been available. The only historical data on this form of land use date back to the 1950s, and were extracted from a national cartography created by the Military Geographic Institute. The next chronological section available was then that of the noughties, already digital. However, much more frequent data were processed by the ten-year censuses by the National Institute of Statistics, but concerning buildings and not urbanized areas. By processing building census data, this study has put together some novel information on land take dynamics between the end of World War II and the year 2000, highlighting the more intensive processes that occurred at an extraordinary rate in the ‘70′s and ‘80′s, obtaining unprecedented information on the speed of transformation of the territory in these decades of economic boom. Through this method, we were able to obtain numerous geographical indications previously lacking on a national scale, highlight the yet significant vigor of this phenomenon and develop an inferential scenario.

Due to the risk exposure of urban centers, built in dystonia with the environmental context, it is necessary to implement territorial development policies which consider risk analysis as an essential condition for planning. The innovative approach proposed by the D.I.C.E.A. for the drafting of the Emergency Plan of the Municipality of Pozzuoli, considered the residential system as a further intrinsic risk factor, determined by the buildings characteristics and by the relationship with the urban environment. As an experiment the Building Vulnerability Charter was created to define critical areas, in which priority should be given to strategic planning of interventions aimed at increasing urban resilience.

Global discussions of risk in the disaster risk reduction literature do not necessarily reflect the range of risk as understood by residents in the urban South. This intra-urban comparison from Bharatpur, Nepal, where the Gorkha earthquake struck in 2015, shows how residents in two different wards perceive risks related to themselves, their families and their urban environment. The continuum of perceived urban risk includes events such as the Gorkha earthquake and the administrative change, as well as everyday concerns such as poor quality of infrastructure provision and economic insecurity. By contrasting the views of these residents of an “ordinary” city in the urban South, and comparing them also with the views of the local authority, this paper allows for an enriched understanding of how risk is understood, highlighting the breadth of concerns involved, and the tensions in understandings of the full spectrum of urban risk. Understandings and definitions of risk matter. If perceptions of risk from the local level are not included within the broader disaster risk reduction discourse, this shapes and in effect limits the risks that are actually managed through policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The residents of informal settlements face a diverse range of urban risks, from climate and economic shocks to local pollution and the threat of eviction. This article explores these risks by conducting Participatory Hazard Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments (PHVCA) in three informal settlements in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. The assessment uncovers a variety of risks, which interact with each other and local vulnerabilities to produce complex risk profiles for residents. In this way, we highlight the importance of a holistic assessment of urban risk rather than focusing on single risks or specific sectors. The participatory approach also reveals household and community-level processes through which risks are experienced, negotiated and in some cases addressed, providing valuable insights into the ways vulnerable urban populations can be best supported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, direct runoff and Total runoff were estimated at temporal scales (2000–2018) focusing on flood potential in the catchments of Kashmir valley. The valley is recurrently prone to catastrophic floods with increased Total runoff frequency in recent decades (post-2010 periods). LANDSAT ETM+ satellite image based land use/land cover mapping exhibited the dominance of vegetation cover (46%) primarily in the peripheral hilly regions, in contrast to agricultural land (29%) and built-up (1.6%) in the elongated valley region. The high anomalous rainfall (>500 mm) in most of the catchments during 2014–2018 caused an increased runoff apparently leading to catastrophic floods inundation (as observed in 2014 with accumulated rainfall of 713 mm and cumulative Total Runoff of 55 LCM). A higher contribution towards Total Runoff in northern catchments (>56%) exhibited higher susceptibility to flood inundation as compared to the southern catchments (<42%). The study highlighted a high vulnerability in the large proportion of built-up land (148 km2) within close proximity to Jhelum river and below 1560m elevation range due to the erratic rainfall induced runoff floods. The insignificant proportion of built-up led to less contribution towards the high runoff yet increases the severity of runoff and flood inundation due to high imperviousness. The rapid built-up growth coupled with deterioration of natural wetlands in the urban-rural fringe increased the impact of catastrophic flood manifolds. The study provided a regional and comprehensive runoff assessment that can be utilized to develop adequate flood control measures at the catchment level in the valley. • The high rainfall (>500 mm) in the catchments became a key role for the flooding. • Northern catchments generates higher (∼59.6%) total runoff. • Temporal and Runoff estimation represents increasing trend for 15 years. • The built-up near river and below 1560m elevation are under high threat to flood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) is an emancipatory approach that aims to empower local communities in reducing their own risks. A community risk assessment (CRA) is an essential element of CBDRM, incorporating highly participatory processes of hazard identification and vulnerability analysis. By incorporating local knowledge and insights, together with those contributed by other external role players, the nature of local risks can be more accurately identified, giving consideration to their causal factors, the nature of their realised impacts or potential effects on a local community and the challenges posed in addressing them. Reflecting on the process and outcomes of a CRA conducted in an informal settlement in the Cape Town metropolitan area, this article describes how one such risk assessment contributed to building local agency through a process of collaborative engagement. Offered as an example of possible best practice, it illustrates both the immediate and potentially longer term benefits to be derived from such a collaborative process, suggesting that a community-based risk assessment may contribute significantly to building more resilient communities. It concludes with a consideration of the challenges of sustaining longer term risk reduction efforts.

Copyright of TECHNE: Journal of Technology for Architecture & Environment is the property of Firenze University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The main urban issue that sub-Saharan Africa is facing is rapid growth in its urban population without the urban governance structures in place that can meet their responsibilities and manage the change. This has created very large deficits in infrastructure and service provision which exposes much of the urban population to high levels of risk. Without competent, effective and accountable urban governments, it is not possible to tap the great potential that cities have for supporting good living conditions and good health. This paper examines both the scale of urban change and the development challenge facing sub-Saharan Africa's urban areas and the possible implications on risk. It describes how a substantial proportion of sub-Saharan Africa's national (and urban) population lives in small and intermediate size urban centres (and thus not in rural areas or large cities) and considers what we know about risk in these urban centres and the implications for development. The paper suggests that within the region's urban population, inadequacies in provision for basic infrastructure and services are usually larger, the smaller the urban centre. Most small urban centres in the region have local governments with very little capacity or funding to fulfil their responsibilities for risk reducing infrastructure and services. Of these, the inadequacies in provision for water and sanitation are the best documented. But in some instances, provision for water and sanitation is so poor in large cities that the proportion of their inhabitants lacking adequate provision is as high as those living in small urban centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environment & Urbanization is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A high magnitude (Mw = 7.8) earthquake caused a geological disaster recently on April-May 2015 in Nepal Himalayas and resulted in severe devastation in Nepal as well as neighboring states in India. Looking into its recurrent occurrence with varied intensity, in the present study, the earthquake pattern in Nepal Himalayas was analyzed during the period 1900 to 2015 using United States Geological Survey (USGS) data sources in GIS environment. The result exhibits that the intensity of earthquake events are increased in recent decade in Nepal Himalayas as compared to previous century (1900-2014). The information pertaining to earthquake epicenter, magnitude, depth to hypocenter, demography etc. was also analyzed in geospatial environment to deduce its relation with geotectonic settings and possible risk in the vicinity. The earthquake events were also observed at deeper location (more than 40 kms) during 1900-2014 (414 events; 53.9%) as compared to the recent events (2015), where majority of eathquake events (146 events; 85.3%) recorded at below 10 km depth (Janakpur and Bagmati provinces in Nepal). The result exhibits high number of recent events with greater magnitudes in central Nepal during April-May 2015 affecting a very large population above and around their vicinity with varied intensity. The cities located in central Nepal are highly prone to frequent earthquake hazard and induced risk on population of 2 923 621 persons followed by north-western Nepal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban ecological risk (UER) caused by rapid urbanization means potential threat to urban ecosystem structure, pattern and services. The scales of ecological risk assessment (ERA) have been expanded from individual organisms to watersheds and regions. The types of stressor range from chemical to physical, biological and natural events. However, the application of ERA in urban ecosystems is relatively new. Here, we summarize the progress of urban ERA and propose an explicit framework to illumine future ERA based on UER identification, analysis, characterization, modeling, projection and early warning and management. The summary includes six urban ERA-relevant methods: weight-of-evidence (WoE), procedure for ecological tiered assessment of risks (PETAR), relative risk model (RRM), multimedia, multi-pathway, multi-receptor risk assessment (3MRA), landscape analysis and ecological models. Furthermore, we review critical cases of urban ERA in landscape ecology, soil, air, water and solid waste. Based on the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing, an urban ERA management platform integrates various urban ERA methodologies that can be developed to provide better implementation strategies of UER for urban ecosystem managers and stakeholders. We develop a conceptual model of urban ERA based on the urban characteristics in China. The future applications of urban ERA include uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo techniques on the basis of geospatial techniques and comprehensive urban ERA using nonlinear models or process models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic loss estimation analysis for large cities is a very demanding yet necessary task; the modelling of such complex systems requires first of all insightful input data at good resolution, referring to local effects, buildings and socio-economic aspects. Also, the implementation of less empirical estimation methods is needed. Until recently, these requirements could not be fulfilled for Bucharest, the capital city in the European Union which is most at risk due to earthquakes. Based on 2011 and 2002 census data, standardized according to the framework of the Near-real time System for Estimating the Seismic Damage in Romania (SeisDaRo) through a unique approach, and on relevant hazard scenarios, we estimate for the first time the building damage at census tract scale. The methodology applied relies on 48 vulnerability curves for buildings, on the Improved Displacement Coefficient Analytical Method included in the SELENA software for computing damage probabilities and on deterministic seismic hazard scenarios, including the maximum possible earthquake. By using overlay analysis with satellite imagery and a new methodology integrated in GIS we show how results can be enhanced, reflecting more localized characteristics. Best practices for seismic risk mapping are also expressed. The results are promising and contribute to mitigation efforts in Bucharest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]