Responding to Urban Disasters

As cities continue to grow, so the inevitability of more urban disasters increases. More and better aid assistance will be needed. Yet the current humanitarian response system that was developed for rural areas is ill-suited for working in urban environments. What then needs to change and what needs to be done differently? Do we assume business as usual or do we need to rethink our approaches? This book focuses on emerging approaches for effective post-disaster relief and recovery in cities; a necessity given that for the greater part of this century at least, disaster response will no longer involve working 'in the field', but rather in the neighbourhood.

This book argues that aid responders themselves need to urbanise, to take account of the complexities, contradictions and opportunities cities afford. Above all, urban responders need to rethink their relationship with those affected by disaster and to see them not as helpless victims but as experts in recovery. Part one of the book explores who the responders are: what drives them and what they want. Part two examines the nature of urban disasters - what causes them, what are the challenges and assumptions, and why are they different to rural disasters. Section three presents actions that have proven to work when agencies prioritise people, including uses of cash, working with markets, engaging with other actors and dealing with issues of shelter, housing and land.