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  • Reducing disaster risk for the poor in tomorrow’s cities

    Tomorrow’s Cities is an interdisciplinary research hub.

    We work globally to bring disaster risk management to the centre of urban policy and practice.

    City of Kayseri, Turkey and the Ercijes Volcano
  • Reducing disaster risk for the poor in tomorrow’s cities

    Tomorrow’s Cities is an interdisciplinary research hub.

    We work globally to bring disaster risk management to the centre of urban policy and practice.

    A figure sweeps ash in Yogyakarta during the 2014 eruption of Kelud
  • Reducing disaster risk for the poor in tomorrow’s cities

    Tomorrow’s Cities is an interdisciplinary research hub.

    We work globally to bring disaster risk management to the centre of urban policy and practice.

    Two figures survey the destruction on the morning after Hurricane Maria
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Focus cities

Our research is led by collaborations of local experts and practitioners based in four rapidly developing and multi-hazard exposed cities, and is supported by an international network of specialists.

Tomorrow's Istanbul

Istanbul skyline
Population 15 million. The city is growing at a rate of 1.5% per year – both upwards and outwards. Key hazards: earthquakes, flooding and landslides.

Tomorrow's Quito

Quito skyline
Population 2.7 million. Rapid urban expansion coincides with hazard hot-spots, creating new risk and amplifying existing inequalities. Key hazards: landslides, earthquakes, volcanoes and flooding.

Tomorrow's Nairobi

Nairobi skyline
Population 5 million, 50% of which live in congested informal settlements. Population growth 4-5% per year. Key hazards: flooding, building collapse, fire, earthquakes.

Tomorrow's Kathmandu

Kathmandu skyline
Population 2.5 million. One of the fastest growing cities in the Global South. Key hazards: earthquakes, landslides and flooding.

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Updates and events

Climate & Development Knowledge Network

New guide offers practical advice on communicating climate change

1 August 2019
Challenge-led research

Early career opportunities to join the Tomorrow's Cities team

1 August 2019

Global context

Word cloud

Globally, more than 2 billion people living in cities are exposed to disasters from multiple hazards, which threaten the cyclical destruction of their lives and livelihoods. Rapid urbanisation can exacerbate these vulnerabilities, presenting a major challenge to sustainable and inclusive development. But it also presents a major opportunity: globally,  more than 60% of the area expected to be urban by 2030 remains to be built, meaning we can reduce disaster risk in tomorrow’s cities by design.

Resources

Implementing the Sendai Framework to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
Publication

Implementing the Sendai Framework to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

UNISDR
Global assessment report on disaster risk reduction 2019 Distilled
Publication

Global assessment report on disaster risk reduction 2019 Distilled

United Nations
One United Nations for Habitat III
Publication

One United Nations for Habitat III

United Nations
Paris Agreement 2015
Publication

Paris Agreement 2015

United Nations

Our partners

Logo of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS)
Akiba Mashinani Trust (AMT)
Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)
British Geological Survey - BGS Global Geoscience
Center for Urban Research and Innovations
CIMNE - International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering
Colegio de Ingenieros (Merlo)
DASK compulsory earthquake insurance scheme
Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD)
Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (EPCC)
FLACSO-Equador
Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR)
Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS)
Institute of Development Studies
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM)
Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI)
Kings College London - Department of Geography
Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI)
Latin American Social Sci Institute (FLACSO)
Leeds Beckett University - School of Built Environment and Engineering
Met office - Science and Technology
Middle East Technical University - Faculty of Arts and Science
Municipio del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito
Nairobi City County Assembly
National Polytechnic School (Ecuador)
National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET)
NERC British Geological Survey - Earth Hazards & Observatories
Northumbria University - Faculty of Engineering and Environment
Overseas Development Institute - Climate change, Energy and Environment
Practical Action South Asia Office
Secretaria de Gestion de Riesgos (SGR)
South Asia Institute of Advanced Studies
TED University - Department of Sociology
Tribhuvan University - Central Department of Geology
Tribhuvan University - Institute of Engineering
UN-Habitat
UNDRR
UNESCO
Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ)
University College London - Department of Civil Environmental and Geomatic Engineering
University of Bristol - Civil Engineering
University of Bristol - School of Earth Sciences
University of East Anglia - School of Environmental Sciences
University of Edinburgh - Moray House School of Education
University of Edinburgh - School of Engineering
University of Edinburgh - School of Geosciences
University of Leeds - School of Earth and Environment
University of Nairobi - School of Physical Sciences
University of Nottingham - School of Geography
University of Plymouth - School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Reading - Department of Meteorology
University of York - Stockholm Environment Institute
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'Tomorrow's Cities' is the UKRI GCRF Urban Disaster Risk Hub—one of twelve global interdisciplinary research hubs funded by an UK Research and Innovation Collective Fund award.

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