Desastres urbanos
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Material Information

Title:
Desastres urbanos una visión global
Creator:
Lavell, Allan
Disaster Risk Reduction Program, Florida International University (DRR/FIU) ( summary contributor )
Publisher:
Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO)
Publication Date:
Copyright Date:
2000
Language:
Spanish

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Risk management ( lcshac )
Urban planning ( lcshac )
International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction ( lcshac )
Genre:
non-fiction ( marcgt )

Notes

Summary:
This article outlines the lack of progress towards reducing disaster risks around the world during the 1990s, declared the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) by the United Nations. The 1990s were characterized by some of the most devastating disasters in recorded history, such as the Kobe, Japan earthquake in 1994, the 1999 earthquake in Izmit, Turkey, and Hurricane Mitch that struck Central America in 1998. One of the central variables in the rise of disaster risk around the world is the increasing concentration of people and assets in major urban centers now known as megacities. One of the places where this is particularly problematic is in the developing world. The increases in vulnerability found in the megacities of the developing world are not solely expressed in terms of the damages and impacts that these sites experience during disaster, but also in their inability to design effective disaster response mechanisms, or to engage in rehabilitation and reconstruction processes that reduce future risks. Typically disaster creates another layer of vulnerability and risk, thus making future disaster more likely. The document contends that addressing urban disaster risk involves three issues: 1) causal factors such as built risks in urban centers and environmental change; 2) capacity to respond to disasters; and 3) capacity for reconstruction in complex urban environments. After analyzing various social, economic, and environmental factors that contribute to rising levels of vulnerability, the document calls on national governments to make a political commitment to reducing vulnerability and disaster risks, and for the international community to help developing countries strengthen the capacity of their institutions for disaster risk reduction (DRR). It prescribes a number of policy reforms, norms, and oversight mechanisms. Major challenges that must be dealt with are the international community’s lack of experience addressing urban risks, as well as the uncoordinated way in which urban problems have been dealt with in the past. What makes urban risk particularly complex is the way that various hazards interact with extremely diverse expressions of vulnerability, thus creating, varied risks contexts. We really need to understand the processes through which these risks are translated into disasters. ( English )
Subject:
General Risk Management ( English )
Subject:
Development ( English )
Citation/Reference:
Lavell, A. Desastres urbanos: una visión global. Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO).

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
Rights Management:
Refer to main document/publisher for use rights.
Resource Identifier:
FI13042578

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Aggregations:
Disaster Risk Reduction