All cities are vulnerable. They have economically, socially, institutionally vulnerable urban space. In developing countries, vulnerable urban space can be observed typically as substandard informal settlements such as slums or areas occupied by squatters. At present, slum dwellers comprise one-third of the world's urban population of 3 billion, and it has been estimated that the number of slum dwellers will double in the next 30 years if no effective action is taken. Improvement of vulnerable urban areas, which is one of the targets of Millennium Development Goals, is thus an urgent worldwide challenge in our age.
Vulnerable Cities: Realities, Innovations and Strategies combines empirical and comparative analysis of improvement of vulnerable urban space and post-disaster rehabilitation in Asian and Latin American countries. The discussions presented herein will serve as a useful, thought-provoking source for researchers, practitioners and students, especially for those who are working to alleviate the vulnerability of urban space.
Preface Tetsuo Kidokoro
List of Contributors
Part I. Introduction
1. Community-based Approach for Improving Vulnerable Urban Space Tetsuo Kidokoro
2. The Vulnerable City: Coping with Disasters Banasopit Mekvichai
3. Promotion of Seismic Retrofitting for Existing Low Earthquake Resistant Structures: The Most Important Issue for Earthquake Disaster Reduction Kimiro Meguro
Part II. Improvement of Urban Vulnerability
4. Growing Vulnerability Crisis 'Will Slums Ever Reduce or Improve?': A Case from India Vijay Neekhra
5. Identifying Housing Conditions in Bogota, Colombia: A Strategy to Deal with Risks Francesco Ambrosi Filardi
6. Methodology for Intervention in Vulnerable Settlements in Medellin, Colombia: Urban Destructuralization in Relation to the Topography of the Territory Juan Ricardo Mejia B
7. From Wood Huts to Buildings of Seven Floors: An Analysis of the Process of Housing Production in the Slum of Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, over a Fifty-Year Period Geronimo Leitao
8. The Incremental Improvement of the Area Densely Built-up with Old Wooden Houses in Tokyo Hitoshi Nakamura
9. Thailand Urban Environmental Management: Case of Environmental Infrastructure and Housing Provision in Bangkok Metropolitan Region Vilas Nitivattananon and Chalika Noonin
Part III. Management of Natural Disasters
10. Seismic Vulnerability of Peruvian Houses: Current Issues and Solution Attempts Paola Mayorca
11. Improving Vulnerable Urban Space in Postdisaster in Yogyakarta and Central Java, Indonesia: Participatory and Comprehensive Approach Suprayoga Hadi
12. Community Empowerment Program on the Revitalization of Kotagede Heritage District, Indonesia Post Earthquake Laretna T. Adishakti
13. A Review of the 921 Post-earthquake Community Rehabilitation of the Urban Disaster Area in Taiwan Kuang-Hui Peng and Yao-Chi Kuo
14. Earthquake as a Fact of Istanbul: Risk-based Strategy and an Action Plan for the Vulnerable Zeytinburnu Area Ayse Sema Kubat, Engin Eyuboglu, Ozhan Ertekin and Firat Sari
15. Structural Viewpoint Mikio Koshihara
16. Vulnerability to Earthquake Disaster and Countermeasures in Tokyo Takaaki Kato