Density and Disasters: Economics of Urban Hazard Risk
Open Access
- 7 July 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in The World Bank Research Observer
- Vol. 27 (1), 74-105
- https://doi.org/10.1093/wbro/lkr006
Abstract
Today, 370 million people live in cities in earthquake prone areas and 310 million in cities with a high probability of tropical cyclones. By 2050 these numbers are likely to more than double, leading to a greater concentration of hazard risk in many of the world's cities. The authors discuss what sets hazard risk in urban areas apart, summarize estimates of valuation of hazard risk, and discuss implications for individual mitigation and public policy. The main conclusions are that urban agglomeration economies change the cost–benefit calculation of hazard mitigation; that good hazard management is first and foremost good general urban management; and that the public sector must perform better in promoting market-based risk reduction by generating and disseminating credible information on hazard risk in cities.This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- World BankPopulation and Development Review, 2009
- Flood Hazards, Insurance Rates, and Amenities: Evidence From the Coastal Housing MarketJournal of Risk and Insurance, 2008
- The Meaning of ‘Build Back Better’: Evidence From Post‐Tsunami Aceh and Sri LankaJournal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 2008
- The benefits of extended liabilityThe RAND Journal of Economics, 2006
- Culinary Deserts, Gastronomic Oases: A Classification of US CitiesPublished by SAGE Publications ,2006
- From everyday hazards to disasters: the accumulation of risk in urban areasEnvironment and Urbanization, 2003
- Untitled: A Study Of Formal and Informal Property Rights in Urban Ecuador*The Economic Journal, 2002
- The global distribution of human population and recent volcanismGlobal Environmental Change Part B: Environmental Hazards, 2001
- A Test of the Expected Utility Model: Evidence from Earthquake RisksJournal of Political Economy, 1985
- Tenure Security and Urban SquattingThe Review of Economics and Statistics, 1984