2 - Urban Risk, City Government, and Resilience

Abstract

Due to its uncontrolled and rapid pace, urbanization is considered as one of the principal risk factors. Since cities are hubs of diversified socioeconomic activities and densely populated with diversified people, these are highly vulnerable to disasters. In this context of rapid urbanization pace and disaster risks, the role of city governments in dealing with risk reduction and enhancing resilience have been recognized as one of the key issues of concern. It is also claimed that the disaster risk of a city comes from the failure of its government. On the other hand, the level of economic development, risk reduction, disaster preparedness and resilience of a city primarily depend on the role and efficiency of the city government. Therefore, this is recommended for substantial improvement of city governance in dealing with critical development functions and enhance city`s resilience. It is suspected that sustainable development may not be achieved if city governments fail to enhance the resilience of cities by prioritizing disaster risk reduction (DRR). Therefore, scholars recommend for efficient urban governance to build safer cities by reducing disaster risk and attaining sustainable development goals. Since Asia is the epicenter of the current urbanization surge, and the continent is highly vulnerable to natural disasters, this chapter attempts to highlight urban risks in Asian cities. It aims to address urban risk reduction methods and the role of city governments to build resilient communities, with a special focus on the urban risks and resilience of Dhaka city.