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- Permanent Link:
- http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI13042688/00001
Notes
- Summary:
- While “DRR: cases from urban Africa” is an excellent example of the application of DRR theory to real life situations, its most profound impact is its emphasis on a much-neglected region – Africa. It serves both scholars of DRR and policymakers as it uses the most rapidly urbanizing continent as a case study of the risks associated with unplanned urbanization, highlighting the relative silence on the issue by international policy and academic communities. This book challenges the conventional wisdom that Africa is largely a rural continent dependent on international aid to manage risk, and that its disaster risks only relate to droughts. Instead it shows that the continent is just the opposite. In Part I, the authors use the most recent conceptualizations of urbanization, development, disaster risk and vulnerability and apply them to Africa. They examine the modern DRR policy initiatives for building urban resilience that have been implemented in Africa, while addressing others yet to be considered. In Part II, they use the recently developed General Information System (GIS) database and its indicators for everyday risks, as well as for local and large disasters experienced in the African states, which supplies the information for the country specific chapters. Part III proves to be the most interesting of the three parts as it looks to the future of urban risk reduction using a multidisciplinary approach whereby collaborations between natural scientists and development, engineering and urban planning practitioners is promoted. It addresses the opportunities and constraints to creating, maintaining or expanding the capacities associated with the inclusion of civil society, political governance, economic development and security necessary to ensure urban resilience. While the recommendations and conclusions are not new, they do not hurt repeating because they are no less true today. Policymakers and researchers need to keep them in mind when building a future for Africa and expanding the field of DRR respectively. In Parts I and II, the authors found that increased poverty levels, migration into cities, lack of resources, the absence of basic human rights, as well as the expansion of cities into unsafe areas have intensified the risks associated not just with natural hazards, but also technological and biological hazards. ( English )
- Subject:
- General Risk Reduction
- Citation/Reference:
- Pelling, M., Wisner, B. (2008). Disaster risk reduction: cases from urban Africa. EARTHSCAN.
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- Florida International University
- Rights Management:
- Refer to main document/publisher for use rights.
- Resource Identifier:
- FI13042688
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