Urban planning can make the Middle East more resilient to outside forces

Source(s): National, the - Abu Dhabi Media Company PJSC

By Jamal Saghir, former director of the World Bank Group and affiliated scholar at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut

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Most Mena cities are increasingly exposed to natural disasters such as flood, extreme heat or drought and climate-related shocks. What we have been observing in the region is that while the number of natural disasters around the world has almost doubled since the 1980s, it has almost tripled in Mena countries, with more than 370 natural disasters affecting 40 million people over the last 30 years, costing $20 billion.

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Most Mena governments have embarked on resilience and development in response - from setting up early-warning systems, building institutions and infrastructure to better handle disasters and gathering an accurate picture of the risks they face.

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But to implement these plans successfully and manage increasingly large and complex urban systems, there is a need for better co-ordination at a central and local level, increased participation of the private sector in urban development and a devolution of responsibilities and budgets to local authorities.

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