Jan 24, 2020
Making cities safer is our challenge. In the past, cities destroyed by fire or in war were rebuilt, often to a higher standard of construction and with the most modern infrastructure. Catastrophes come without warning, and catch people unprepared. The trends of climate change, and its effects, call for action. But tragic events that could…
Jan 24, 2020
In the decades ahead, climate change will cause unprecedented redistribution of human population at global, national and local scales. A World Bank report recently estimated that climate change will displace 143 million people from Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America by 2050. Given upward trends in greenhouse gas emissions, polar ice melt, and increasing…
Jan 24, 2020
The global climate is changing. To see this reality, we need look no further than the fires raging in Australia or the fall 2019 fires that burned in California and Alaska, the 2019 extreme flooding on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers [1] (and in numerous inland communities), the Tropical Storms and Hurricanes that are increasing…
Jan 24, 2020
Many of our greatest cities are already losing the battle against climate-driven flooding. In response, cities are turning to a managed retreat by using precious public funds to buyout waterfront properties in an attempt to relocate communities to safer land. Turning the tide will take a careful, coordinated and informed response. Relocating people and property…
Jan 23, 2020
We know this for a fact: the climate crisis is going to fundamentally change our world. From receding coastlines to desertification, a warming planet is already irrevocably altering our landscapes and physical geography, and destabilizing social and economic structures around the world as a result. One of the most under-analysed aspects of the climate crisis…
Nov 25, 2019
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Oct 02, 2019
Cities all over the world are facing a growing list of challenges that test the physical, digital, and community infrastructures that form the foundation of prosperous urban areas. In this edition of the Big Picture, presented by Securaxis, we examine the growing conversation on climate adaptation and improving the built environment to better withstand shock,…
Oct 02, 2019
“To listen to the noise of a city is to hear a living city. To hear its moments of strength and weakness.” In technical terms, resilience is the ability of materials to withstand shock. A city is made up of both material things and living beings – humans, animals, and plants – that together form…
Oct 02, 2019
We are in an era where daily lives are regularly disrupted by extreme weather events that continue to increase in intensity and frequency, breaking previous records. In the past six months alone, many parts of the world were impacted by a series of super strong storms including Cyclone Idai in Southeastern Africa, Hurricane Dorian in…
Oct 02, 2019
The last 10,000 years has marked a period of unusual climate stability during Earth’s history. What we have always accepted as the “norm” has actually not been normal at all. As it turns out, geologically-speaking, change is NOT the new normal – stability is. And now that is coming to an end. While this recent…
Oct 02, 2019
Infrastructure Enables City Life Infrastructure powers, heats, cools, hydrates, connects, mobilises, and sanitises our cities. It supports the movement of food, people, goods, services, and ideas to, from, and within cities. It makes possible the provision of social infrastructure services to city residents. It enables a range of social and economic activity that simply could…
Oct 02, 2019
Urban risk governance serves a critical role for increasing resilience and ensuring inclusive and sustainable development in our cities. Local governments need to form coalitions and work with a variety of stakeholders that will transcend power dynamics to achieve disaster risk reduction (DRR) and resilience building in their communities. However, recent assessments have shown that…
