Disasters are getting bigger, and the damages to cities and human settlement worse than in any other period in human history. The world population is now dominantly living in cities and metropolitan regions in high-risk coastal areas creating both the cause and consequence of this growing menace to all human life and property. As we build our sites, we are creeping on to landscapes that are increasingly hazardous because of their proximity to rivers, the sea and mountain areas that were un-buildable only half a century ago. Modern technology has made it possible to build in locations that were off-limits in past centuries because the terrain was too densely covered with vegetation and animal life, the slopes were too high, or the river current and sea tides too dangerous. But we have found ways to overcome these difficulties in order to accommodate larger populations in sprawling settlements. Nature has not changed, we have. Now we have to learn to live with the consequence of our settlement choices.
In a new book entitled Managing Urban Disaster Recovery: Policy, Planning, Concepts and Cases (Crisis Response Press, 2012), we put forward a comprehensive analysis of how to deal with post-disaster social, economic, physical and emotional issues. The book is not a recipe but a well developed multi-national and multidisciplinary presentation on how to deal with urban post-disaster situations no matter where they occur in the world. In putting the book together, we learned a great deal from one another and distilled this information into manageable pieces for teachers, trainers and practitioners. In essence, the book aims to be the post-disaster reference and manual. It is also intended to trigger more contributions and more cases built from future disaster rebuilding work. We all know disasters will continue to occur at greater frequency and with greater impacts on urban environments.