The developing world is urbanizing rapidly. However, this urban growth is leading to increased inequity and vulnerability, particularly for the marginalized poor. Climate change further compounds these problems.
Asia showcases these challenges and highlights warnings to be heeded elsewhere.
Urbanization is causing unprecedented and rapid change of ecological landscapes, social values and economic relations. Cities, in particular smaller cities with populations under 500,000, are frequently expanding into hazardous areas including coasts, deltas, floodplains, and river basins. It is clear that settling people in such places can be lethal and expensive.
Cyclone Nargis killed over 138,000 people in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady Delta in 2008. Typhoon Haiyan killed thousands in coastal Tacloban, Philippines, in 2013. In 2015 super Typhoon Chanhom led to the evacuation of millions of Chinese citizens and caused nearly $1 billion in economic losses….