Unplanned Urban Development: A Neglected Global Threat

Disasters pose a major threat to cities’ development. Consequently, a lot of attention has been put into increasing urban capacity to withstand, adapt and grow no matter what kind of catastrophic event they go through. However, the majority of international campaigns and local actions to reach these objectives, focused exclusively in reducing vulnerabilities, have been proven insufficient to avoid disasters. As argued in this paper, this is because cities are not only vulnerable to disasters, but the epicenter of highly destructive global threats, which are mostly neglected. By using the latest disaster science terminology to examine hazard creation in the cities of Bangalore (India) and São Paulo (Brazil), it becomes clear that unplanned urban development can be considered anthropic-hazard driver. This finding highlights the need for urban planners, researchers and local governments to focus on reducing hazard-creation with the same enthusiasm as they are trying to reduce vulnerabilities in urban settings.