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Urban risk and planning

This theme contributes to the understanding of urban risk, which includes urban hazards, exposure and vulnerability. It also covers aspects related to improving awareness, as well as local governance and local capacity to effectively reduce disaster risk.

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Latest Urban risk & planning additions in the Knowledge Base

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Update
How 65 major U.S. cities are responding to urban heat

Climate Central analysis shows that residents of the 65 largest U.S. cities experience an average of 8°F of extra heat due to the built environment.

Climate Central
The perils of risk communication in a context of uncertainty: The long dispute over contamination after the Grenfell Tower fire thumbnail
Documents and publications
The perils of risk communication in a context of uncertainty: The long dispute over contamination after the Grenfell Tower fire

This study examines post-disaster risk communication after the Grenfell Tower fire, arguing that acknowledging uncertainty, enabling inclusive risk assessment and applying precaution can help rebuild trust between authorities and affected communities.

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (Elsevier)
Digital thermometer showing a high temperature in a town
Research briefs
Study reveals the world's cities most at risk from extreme heat

Research from the University of Oxford has ranked 205 of the world's largest cities by their risk from extreme heat, identifying where people are most in danger as global temperatures rise.

University of Oxford
Facade of small business buildings in the old town district of Granada, Spain.
Blog
Ignasi Fontanals
Small businesses are key to building resilient cities
Can cities and SMEs can access the operational resilience tools – continuity plans, crisis exercises, risk assessments and risk transfer approaches – that have traditionally been available mainly to large companies and major consultancies?
A multi-stakeholder approach for urban heat resilience: Singapore’s experience thumbnail
Documents and publications
A multi-stakeholder approach for urban heat resilience: Singapore’s experience

This report outlines how Singapore has developed a coordinated strategy to address the growing risks of urban heat under climate change. L

Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN)
Shade produced by trees in a city street in southern France
Update
Urban trees aren’t just nice, scientists say — they’re mandatory

Researchers are calling for cities to double down on one of the simplest yet most powerful solutions to many problems.

Grist Magazine
Pedestrians and workers walking in shade under scorching sun
Blog
Shubham Kashyap Payal Bhatnagar
As temperatures increase in India, so must the commitment to thermal comfort
The urgency of embedding heat resilience into urban planning was underscored on Heat Action Day (2 June), when stakeholders across government and civil society highlighted the need for coordinated action.
Counting the cost of heat: the case for urgent solutions for cities thumbnail
Documents and publications
Counting the cost of heat: the case for urgent solutions for cities

This report reveals that extreme heat is emerging as one of the most underestimated threats to economic development worldwide, hammering city economies, overwhelming health systems, and falling hardest on women working on the frontlines of a hotter world.

HERA (Climate Resilience for All)
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