China: 'Cities, prepare for a rainy day' - Opinion

As Chinese and other densely populated Asian cities are facing more and more extreme weather induced floods, Joanna Masic, urban development specialist of the Asian Development Bank Resident Mission in China, is urging authorities to step up disaster risk reduction efforts. Apart from capacity building and raising public awareness, writing on the pages of China Daily Ms Masic's suggests, "Vulnerability can be reduced by investing in infrastructure improvement, careful urban planning and zoning, improving disaster warning and response systems and expanding insurance and other forms of disaster risk financing. And cities that choose to mitigate risks will reap significant economic and social benefits."