chapter 4 - DRK

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Strictly under embargo until Wednesday 22 September at 00:01 GMT (02:01 Geneva time)34CHAPTER 2growthis often seen as a problem, it is generally the nations with the best economic performancethat have urbanized most in the last 50 years. All the world’s wealthiest nationsare predominantly urbanized; almost all the world’s poorest nations are predominantlyrural. In addition, there is often an association between rapid urban change and betterstandards of living. Not only is most urbanization associated with stronger economiesbut, generally, the more urbanized a nation, the higher the average life expectancy and theliteracy rate, and the stronger the democracy, especially at local level. Of course, beyondall these quantitative measures, cities are also centres of culture and of social and politicalinnovation. Mega-cities may appear chaotic but most have life expectancies and provisionfor piped water, sanitation, schools and healthcare that are well above their national average– even if the aggregate statistics for each mega-city can hide a significant proportionof their population living in very poor conditions. Some of world’s fastest-growing citiesover the last 50 years also have the best standards of living within their nation.Looking over the trends of large-scale disasters of the last decade from the Centre forResearch on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) database (EM-DAT), it seems thatregions of the world that are more urbanized tend to have fewer deaths from natural disasters,but higher economic losses. This is understandable, given that urban areas concentratehigh-value assets and that well-governed cities, especially those in high-incomecountries, should enormously reduce deaths and serious injuries – even if it is often lesseasy to guard against economic losses. It is noteworthy that cyclones, floods and earthquakesproduce massive economic costs in Europe and Japan but very few deaths. BothEurope and Japan are highly urbanized, Europe has 72 per cent of the population livingin cities and Japan, 66 per cent. In 2007, 65 disasters reported in Europe accounted for1 per cent of the deaths worldwide but 27 per cent of the economic damages. In 2007,Japan had the highest reported economic damages for one single earthquake event on16 July, costing US$ 12.5 billion whereas nine people were reportedly killed. In Africa,northern Africa has 21 per cent of the continent’s population and is the only highlyurbanized region (51 per cent of its population lives in cities). In 2007, northern Africahad 12 per cent of the disasters that affected the continent, 6 per cent of affected persons,yet 45 per cent of economic damages for all of Africa. In the period from 2000 to2006, northern Africa had 13 per cent of disasters, 1 per cent of affected persons, yet75 cent of damages recorded for the continent as a whole.Identifying ‘urban’ disasters and their impactsCities, with their concentration of people, buildings, infrastructure and economic activities,are the locus of both large and small-scale disasters. A look at the major disasters overthe last ten years highlights that large-scale disasters, which affect a whole region, usuallyhave an urban component to them (see Table 2.1). Some disasters could also be called‘urban’ disasters, since the great majority of damages are concentrated in city centres. Thisis made evident by the recent earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Hurricane Katrinain New Orleans, where urban areas sustained most of the losses and damages.
Strictly under embargo until Wednesday 22 September at 00:01 GMT (02:01 Geneva time)With the exception of the South Asian tsunami in 2004, many of the deaths and lossesfrom earthquakes have been in cities. Of all large disasters, seismic events have killedthe greatest number of people in recent years, averaging 50,184 people per year from2000 to 2008. Flood events have affected the largest numbers of people, averagingTable 2.1 Large disaster events over the period 2000–2010 impacting on citiesPopularnameHaitiearthquakeSichuanearthquakeCycloneNargisJavaearthquakeKashmirearthquakeHurricaneKatrinaMumbaifloodsSouth AsiantsunamiBamearthquakeEuropeanheatwaveDresdenfloodsGujuratearthquakeMaincountriesaffectedHaitiDate ofevent12 January2010Type ofhazardChina 12 May 2008 EarthquakeMyanmar 2 May 2008Main citiesaffectedTotalnumber ofdeathsTotalnumber ofaffectedTotaldamagesUS$Earthquake Port-au-Prince 222,570 3,400,000 n / aTropicalcycloneBeichuan,Dujiangyan,Shifang,Mianzhu,Juyuan,Jiangyou,Mianyang,Chengdu,Qionglai,Deyang87,476 45,976,596 85 billionYangon 138,366 2,420,000 4 billionIndonesia 27 May 2006 Earthquake Yogyakarta 5,778 3,177,923 3.1 billionPakistanUnited States8 October200529 August2005Earthquake Muzaffarabad 73,338 5,128,000 5.2 billionTropicalcycloneNew Orleans 1,833 500,000 125 billionIndia 26 July 2005 Flood Mumbai 1,200 20,000,055 3.3 billionIndonesia, SriLanka, India,Thailand,Malaysia,Maldives,MyanmarIranItaly, France,Spain,Germany,Portugal,SwitzerlandGermanyIndia26 December200426 December2003Earthquakeand tsunamiBanda Aceh,Chennai(somedamages)226,408 2,321,700 9.2 billionEarthquake Bam 26,796 267,628 500 millionSummer 2003 Extreme heat Various 72,210 Not reported Not reported11 August200226 January2001Flood Dresden 27 330,108 11.6 billionEarthquakeBhuj,Ahmedabad20,005 6,321,812 2.6 billionSource: EM-DAT: The OFDA / CRED International Disaster Database (www.emdat.net), Université catholique de Louvain –Brussels – Belgium. Complied by author.World Disasters Report 2010 – Focus on urban risk35
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214INDEXStrictly under embargo unti
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The International Federationof Red
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