Opinion: Beijing disaster necessitates risk analysis

Following the recent Beijing floods the city's infrastructure and its disaster prevention capabilities are under scrutiny. Due to dense population, cities are increasingly prone to natural disasters. Liu Tao, a lecturer of Sociology in Bielefeld University, Germany urges authorities to conduct risk evaluations of urban areas and to establish research models for risk management. "Modern civilized country should pursue the following goals: to strive for a zero casualty rate and to make sure no citizen complains about not having enough information about public emergency preparedness plans prior to the disaster," adds Mr Liu Tao in his China.org article. He also suggests that urban space sociology and risk sociology scholars in cooperation with the government should establish early warning systems and the state should raise urban flood prevention awareness.