Urban Risk Assessments: Understanding Disaster and Climate Risk in Cities

by Eric Dickson, Judy L. Baker, Daniel Hoornweg, Tiwari Asmita

Overview

This book presents a framework, the Urban Risk Assessment, for assessing disaster and climate risk in cities which is intended to assist in decision-making, urban planning, and designing risk management programs. The approach seeks to strengthen coherence and consensus within and across cities in understanding and planning for risk from natural disasters and climate change. The target audience for this book includes policy makers, urban practitioners and technical staff, and international organizations. The Urban Risk Assessment is a flexible approach based on three reinforcing pillars that collectively contribute to the understanding of urban risk: a hazard impact assessment, an institutional assessment, and a socioeconomic assessment. The URA is designed to allow flexibility in how it is applied dependent on available financial resources, available data relating to hazards and its population, and institutional capacity of a given city. Based on the identified needs and priorities, city governments can select the most appropriate level of risk assessment. Chapters 1 and 2 of the book are aimed at policy makers with information on why and how to invest in measures that strengthen the understanding of urban risk; Chapter 1 provides background information on the growing importance of disaster and climate risk management strategies at the city level and Chapter 2 provides guidance on how to operationalize and mainstream the Urban Risk Assessment with ongoing urban management and development activities. Chapters 3 and 4 are aimed at practitioners, and provide details on the conceptual approach, components, uses, and monitoring requirements for carrying out an Urban Risk Assessment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821389621
Publisher:	World Bank Publications
Publication date:	06/22/2012
Series:	Urban Development
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xiii

Abbreviations xv

Overview 1

Note 3

Chapter 1 Need for an Urban Risk Assessment 5

Disasters and Cities 6

Climate Change and Cities 10

Challenges of Managing Disaster and Climate Risk in Urban Areas 15

Notes 20

References 20

Chapter 2 Integrated Urban Risk Assessment as a Tool for City Management 21

What Is Risk Assessment? 22

Integrated Approach to Assessing Urban Risk 23

Initiating, Undertaking, and Mainstreaming Urban Risk Assessment 29

Challenges in Undertaking the URA 33

Notes 34

Reference 34

Chapter 3 Pillars of the Urban Risk Assessment 35

Hazard Impact Assessment 36

Institutional Assessment 49

Socioeconomic Assessment 55

Notes 62

References 62

Chapter 4 Conclusion: From Risk Assessment to Action Planning and Implementation 63

Introduction 63

Developing Action Plans: Lessons from Vietnam and New York City 65

Key Policy Areas: Lessons from England, Turkey, Kenya, and Colombia 66

Institutions and Governance 68

References 70

Annex 1 Dar es Salaam Case Study 71

Overview and Key Findings 71

Case Study Summary 76

Reference 88

Annex 2 Jakarta Case Study 89

Overview and Key Findings 89

Case Study Summary 95

Notes 107

Reference 107

Annex 3 Mexico City Case Study 109

Overview and Key Findings 109

Case Study Summary 112

Notes 124

Reference 125

Annex 4 Sao Paulo Case Study 127

Overview and Key Findings 127

Case Study Summary 131

Notes 160

Reference 160

Annex 5 Case Study-Dakar, Senegal 161

Public Awareness Raising, Stakeholder Consultations, and Community Participation 162

Understanding the Institutional Landscape 162

Hazard Impact Assessment 162

Note 166

Reference 166

Annex 6 Case Study-Legazpi, Philippines 167

Note 177

References 177

Annex 7 Case Study-Sana'a, Yemen 179

Probabilistic Risk Assessment in Sana'a 179

Historical Hazard Identification 182

Exposure and Vulnerability 182

Note 185

Reference 185

Annex 8 Case Study-Bogota, Colombia 187

Holistic Risk Evaluation for Bogota 187

Assessing Risk for Bogota 188

Damage and Loss 190

Comparison with Other Cities 191

Action Plan for Risk Management in Bogota 191

Notes 193

References 193

Annex 9 Probabilistic Risk Modeling 195

Annex 10 Remote Sensing as a Tool for Assessing Urban Risk 199

Remote Sensing: Satellite Descriptions, Pricing, and Application for Digital Elevation Models 202

Note 204

References 204

Annex 11 Community-Based Institutional Mapping and Other Participatory Approaches 205

Pro-Poor Adaptation to Climate Change in Urban Centers: Case Studies of Urban Poor in Mombasa, Kenya, and Esteli, Nicaragua 205

Methodology 205

Participatory Climate Change Adaptation Appraisal 206

Findings from the Case Studies 207

Note 208

Reference 208

Annex 12 Global, National, and Local Responses to Disasters and Climate Change 209

References 213

Annex 13 Tools for Climate Risk Assessment 215

Note 216

Reference 216

Annex 14 Sample Household Urban Risk Questionnaire 217

Natural Hazard Information 217

Annex 15 PAGER Construction Types Used for Development of Building Inventory 221

Note 222

Annex 16 Urban Risk Assessment Template 223

Annex 17 Key Definitions 229

Color Section 241

Boxes

1.1 Understanding Disaster Risk 9

1.2 Hazard Classification 10

1.3 Economics of Effective Prevention 12

1.4 City Growth and Increased Urban Temperatures in Mexico City 17

1.5 Understanding Urban Resilience 18

3.1 Comprehensive Approach for Probabilistic Risk Assessment 48

3.2 Field Data Collection and Community-Based Approaches 58

4.1 Aspects of a Good Urban Risk Assessment 69

A9.1 Probabilistic Flood Hazard Analysis 196

A12.1 Local/City-Level Disaster Risk Reduction Tasks 210

Figures

2.1 Risk as a Process 22

2.2 Urban Risk Assessment Approach 24