Tokyo before the next earthquake: Agglomeration-related risks, town planning and disaster prevention

The basis for this paper is the need to give more consideration to man-made rather than natural hazards and the question of the vulnerability of the world's largest urban agglomerations. The stress will be on questions of damage prevention. The paper discusses the character of agglomeration-related risks and the problems encountered by urban planners whose goal is to prevent disasters. It begins with a review of the lessons to be learned from Japan's history of earthquakes, followed by a section introducing the topics of potential vulnerability and disaster assessment. The development of different approaches to disaster prevention strategies and urban planning in Tokyo from the 1950s is assessed and a practical example considered. The paper concludes with some questions, theories and remarks on disaster prevention in Tokyo from the standpoints of sustainable development and planning theory and practice.