Shelter: Proactive Planning to Protect Citizens from Natural Hazards

Abstract

There is space on the Earth to locate 3 billion more people than inhabit the Earth in 2013. But locating space that is safe from natural and anthropogenic hazards and the events they trigger or that can be made safe by investment, sound engineering, retrofitting, human innovation, and common sense can be problematic. There are surely limits to how much more population megacities can accept without becoming unmanageable. The reasons are that in addition to establishing safe sites for shelter (plus workplaces and infrastructure), there must be accessibility to foodstuffs and clean water, and opportunities for employment to support a tax base that can provide social services (e.g., healthcare and education) for a community. This chapter will focus on the physical aspect of site selection and technology that can protect growing, high density populations from natural hazards.