I expect the future society or individuals would be more independent in future due to IT and other technological comforts, alone without being physically social or extroverted. So, in times of disasters, social bond 'Kizuuna' may be a challenge. Also, until we come up with flying cars or drones for urban mobility, at a practical and commercial level, mobility to safety and evacuation centers presents challenges in the present or immediate future. As Shahab Uddin pointed out already, urban population is increasing, so density of people and cars would mean heavy pressure on transport infrastructure like roads. There could be many more pertinent issues. East Japan case: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327933120_Revitalization_of_Kamaishi_-_Mitigation_of_Social_and_Physical_Vulnerabilities_towards_Holistic_Sustainability

Dear Shahab Uddin ,

Climatic changes and rapid population growth are the most challenging factors. climate change is an inevitable whereas population growth create complicated issues is a cross-sectoral issue.

Thanks and with regards

Miyuru

Dear Shahab Uddin

Another dominant issue will be urban unrest due to massive demos of people demanding a stronger say in public affairs. The so called "democratic systems" of government of today are essentially oligarchic rulings by organised groups of specific interest (political parties). They have all failed to deliver what they promise: well-being and prosperity to the people. The ever increasing gap of wealth between the elites and the working people has reached historically unprecedented proportions, meaning that more and more social groups become deprived. The destruction of the middle income classes in Europe during the last ten years following the financial crisis of 2008 is a characteristic example. These phenomena will be the seeds of the new social struggle to come and, in my opinion, the causes of large scale urban unrest, which will very likely evolve into civil wars and the accompanying man-made disasters.

I quite agree with Shahab, moreso taking a look at the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) with regards your question.

• Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
• Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
• Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all .
• Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
• Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
• Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*
• Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
• Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
• Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

In my opinion, Goal 13, 15 and 16 will be the greatest challenge.

the biggest challenge in future urban disaster response and management

- lack of clear spatial and socio-economic data base (for war & natural disaster prone areas)

- increase in population size (specifically those who are in need of urgent aid and support)

- extent of the problem areas

- less attention paid by international donors

- governments' extensive debt burden and others.

Infrastructures and services

The building of new infrastructures (which are to be used for crisis management) lags behind the population growth. Increased efforts should be made to speed up in this area.

social justice connected to climate change and disaster risk. This is in particular a challenge in informal settlements, where hazards in form of pollution from water / sanitation as well as exposure to tropical cyclones / hurricanes exist. As Hurricane Katrina shows these are not only challenges of tropical developing countries.

Interesting! Following

I think terrorism will be the biggest challenge in future urban disaster response and management.

I think (population growth, resource scarcity, infrastructures and services, complex technological hazards and social injustice) may support terrorism. Failure to management of the increasing migration waves in the world may also increase this negative trend.

Interesting topic

Interesting

Rapid population growth ,climate change and pollution from water , are the most serious factors .

Hi Shahab Uddin

Rapid Population growth!

Rapid Population growth is likely to result in Resource scarcity if we fail to keep it with the growth. Increased Population growth may also aggravate climate change (global warming). As more people are being born per given time (Rapid Population growth), the quality/quantity of infrastructures and services to accommodate such increasing number of people may eventually reduce. Basically, in my opinion, everything is hinged around controlling the rate of reproduction (population growth)

The inhabitants! Disaster communication is almost never done, let alone targeted at residents living in urban areas. Structural arrangements can be relatively done with abundant resources, but managing the population is almost like a job that will fail.

Interesting.

4. Infrastructures and services 5. Terrorism 6. Complex technological hazards.

The ability for responding agencies to communicate with each other still remains a complex problem d/t inability to sync their digital radios and get on the proper frequency. Utilizing WHO Emergency Medical Type 1 teams to enhance their response in the initial phase is also an issue d/t egos and/or lack of knowledge. Terrorism willl lways be a factor since the response phase and victims are a ripe target. And being able to employ your tech safely (drones) without hampering the response is going to need an ICS overview.

social justice connected to climate change and disaster risk. This is in particular a challenge in informal settlements, where hazards in form of pollution from water / sanitation as well as exposure to tropical cyclones / hurricanes exist. As Hurricane Katrina shows these are not only challenges of tropical developing countries.

It appears that people living in informal settlement consider adverse environmental conditions as a security from eviction. Nobody else wants to use this land....

Dear Ilhami Unluoglu Thanks a lot for your very valuable comments

surely, i urban system, problems are interconnected and interdependent. even-though migration wave is a big problem for current and future cities, the solution is in the rural areas. policy and management and management failures are creating higher gradients between urban and rural areas and increasing the rate of migration. we can solve this issue if we can put urban and rural development models in a integrated approach.

terrorism, surely a big challenge. but this problem is by product of others unsolved and neglected issues in our society. there is no direct solution for terrorism. Political wills, community awareness, social justice can reduce the potentials of this problem significantly

I expect the future society or individuals would be more independent in future due to IT and other technological comforts, alone without being physically social or extroverted. So, in times of disasters, social bond 'Kizuuna' may be a challenge. Also, until we come up with flying cars or drones for urban mobility, at a practical and commercial level, mobility to safety and evacuation centers presents challenges in the present or immediate future. As Shahab Uddin pointed out already, urban population is increasing, so density of people and cars would mean heavy pressure on transport infrastructure like roads. There could be many more pertinent issues. East Japan case: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327933120_Revitalization_of_Kamaishi_-_Mitigation_of_Social_and_Physical_Vulnerabilities_towards_Holistic_Sustainability

dear Khansaa Azeez Obayes Al-Husseini Thanks for you inputs

yes... population growth is still a big problem for developing world.... but if you look at developed world, such as Japan, you will see they have minus population growth. Number of old people is increasing. On the other-hand, due to fragile family bonding people are not having babies. Japan now facing a problem with limited working age people. so, they are planning to increase their dependency on robots.

Climate change is a common problem for all. It is very difficult to say who will suffer more: urban or rural.

Water pollution and other urban services are very limited in the cities of developing world. the way size of the city (vertically and horizontally) service capacities are not increasing in the same rate. overload sometime also creating collapse. so urban systems are facing bottle neck phenomenon in those cities

Dear Eddie-Williams Owiredu Thanks for your valuable inputs

Population growth and resource scarcity are mainly management issue. Better management can bring the best using the working hands and available natural resources. If we can develop a efficient system of management we can solve a significant part of such issues.

Again, urban population growth is no more a issue related to reproduction. Migration is the main reason. If we take care rural areas in development initiatives, we can also deal with this issue successfully.

Dear Ninil Miftahul Jannah surely, integrating urban communities in the disaster management is a big problem. Many organizations including government agencies, NGOs, Universities are working on this issue. May be ti is true, we need to wait to see clear outcomes from those initiatives

dear Christopher Provost surely, emergency coordination among the organizations are very issue. Organizations have their own mission and visions. similarly, government agencies have their own strategies. put them all in a harmonic urban emergency response is critical and challenging. WE need to be proactive, and develop a better framework for cooperation and coordination before any event

This case of East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami could be relevant : Thesis Revitalization of Kamaishi - Mitigation of Social and Physic...

Dear Eberhard Weber

I agree, climate change is a big issue and informal-settlements suffering the most.

However, to understand the sufferings of informal-settlements, we must understand the dynamic that poor people are making their house in the marginal lands, hazard prone areas. we must not blame hazards all the time. Sometime we are hitting hazards, hazards are not hitting us.

management failure in Hurricane Katrina was a organizational management issue; after the 9/11 attack, us changed their policy and focused more on terrorism than natural hazard. so, they faced a connection gap between the response organization (both central and state) in the wake of Hurricane Katrina

Climate change, and Power supply

social justice connected to climate change and disaster risk. This is in particular a challenge in informal settlements, where hazards in form of pollution from water / sanitation as well as exposure to tropical cyclones / hurricanes exist. As Hurricane Katrina shows these are not only challenges of tropical developing countries.

Dear Shahab Uddin, thank you very much for your contribution. You wrote: "we must understand the dynamic that poor people are making their house in the marginal lands, hazard prone areas. we must not blame hazards all the time".

Indeed it appears to me that poor often chose marginal lands that pose environmental risks (including the risk of exposure to hazards) in order to not being evicted. Nobody wants to use such lands, no competition, but such security comes at a high price.

Thanks Eberhard Weber I do agree

However, if you look at the lands urban poor are using mostly NOT FOR USE. it is true that nobody wants to use those land, mostly those lands are public property and as a part of natural conservation and amenity (for example: river bank, floodplain, etc.)

If we look at the basic definition of disaster, we will see ... when hazard meets a vulnerable element, it creates disaster. In case of disaster is informal settlements, disasters are mostly man-made, even-though we can see that they are triggered by natural hazards

The biggest challenge for details disaster management would be availability of sufficient drugs , manpower and equipment to handle suddenly mass emergency

if we are talking about disaster response - then I believe its definitely the scarcity of key resources like water, food, medicine - if disasters hit large urban areas and supply routes are cut off, or adequate agreements are not made with local suppliers, addressing needs of survivors and providing life-saving assistance might not be possible.

If we talk about the most pressing hazards, then climate change would definitely be my number one bet.

I believe there is no single biggest challenge. It's a complex interaction between different actors and risks.

I agree with Luc; the issues are complex. Indeed it appears to me that poor often chose marginal lands that pose environmental risks (including the risk of exposure to hazards) in order to not being evicted. Nobody wants to use such lands, no competition, but such security comes at a high price.

Dear Eberhard Weber yes... Luc JM Mortelmans is right... complex connectivity and interdependence is the biggest challenge of managing other challenges

Shahab Uddin, can one get this more precise? Today such questions are often answered by referring to 'complexity' , but often no further explanation. Like I mentioned earlier I consider poverty as a big urban challenge, which finds some concrete manifestation in unaffordable urban housing and the spread of informal settlements. Here provision of services (health, education, solid and liquid waste management, etc...), provision of decent livelihood, etc. are crucial.....

Dear Eberhard Weber You are right.. still there is comparatively little efforts in understanding complexities in urban system. specially, poverty and other dependent issues

here i am referring you the link of one of my article... hope you will find it interesting

Article Surge dynamics of disaster displaced populations in temporar...

Thank you very much Shahab Uddin

Like I mentioned earlier I consider poverty as a big urban challenge, which finds some concrete manifestation in unaffordable urban housing and the spread of informal settlements. Here provision of services (health, education, solid and liquid waste management, etc...), provision of decent livelihood, etc. are crucial.....

Doing anything about it.

The question is one that is constantly being discussed in both the classroom and among emergency managers inside of communities. Everything on the list are key factors but each city will be different in respect to population, cultural norms, community connectivity, location-based threats, and so on. Communication, resources, and infrastructure (locations and condition) would likely be the biggest challenges but each municipality will break down these challenges to match their particular urban setting. The issue really becomes one of adaptation by emergency managers and local community leaders as these are not static issues. The ability to consistently monitor an urban setting and reexamine the most likely potential threats, as well as in planning an appropriate response, will be key to mitigate, prepare, respond, and recover for an urban environment in any disaster.

That's very Truth, I quite agree with Joe.

old approach of disaster management based on only the emergency sectors

still urban disaster response missing the new community resilience approach

I think involving of community in disaster urban is much easer then urban

Paying for it.

sorry I mean involving of community during disaster in rural areas is much easer then urban