International Best Practices in Urban Disaster Resiliency and Risk Reduction Management

2007 was a turning point for humanity as for the first time in history, the world urban population has exceeded its rural population. In the next 20 years, the world’s population is predicted to increase by an additional 2.0 billion; most of the growth will be in cities. Eventually, cities will account for all future global population growth with record concentrations in large urban conglomerations and megacities in the developing world. Eight out of the ten most populous cities in the world can be severely affected by an earthquake, whereas six out of ten are vulnerable to storm surge and tsunami waves.Today, as we take stake in the state-of-practice in urban disaster risk management, we recognize an increase in awareness among policy-makers and the recognition that disasters represent a significant threat to the well being of the populations and to urban development. However, government action has often been limited to improving response capabilities. The paradigm shift from re-active to pro-active action can be accomplished by adopting a master planning” approach aimed at achieving resilience of cities.The mainstreaming is an approach by which disaster risk reduction can be accomplished through integration with the city’s development planning, functional and operational processes. The master planning process provides common vision and platform for action that can lead to a quantum jump in effectiveness. Impact from disasters can be reduced significantly with time, and institutional expertise is increased to handle unanticipated events.The paper and presentation will provide the key ingredients to building resilience through the disaster risk management master plan model. It provides case studies from several cities in the world that are turning the challenges of disasters into opportunities for investments and development.