In this paper a simulation approach to modeling the linkages between physical infrastructure systems and the urban economy is developed. A simulation approach based on probabilistically specifying the key model relationships is effective for situations that involve substantial uncertainty, and is particularly suited to assessing risk from natural hazards. In this paper, a model of economic losses from earthquakes is developed and applied to the Memphis, Tennessee, region of the United States. We focus on water as a critical infrastructure service supporting the urban economy. The methodological approach involves systems integration of natural-science, engineering, and social-science databases and models. The concept of infrastructure services provides the linchpin in this integration process. Key spatial, temporal, and functional dimensions of infrastructure services are explicitly modeled in the simulation framework. The resulting model permits the analyst to compare the effectiveness of alternative actions, including both predisaster mitigation and postdisaster emergency-response activities. The model is calibrated in part with data from the 1994 Northridge and 1995 Kobe earthquakes. Results for several scenario earthquakes indicate the likely range of loss from economic disruption as well as uncertainties associated with the loss estimates. Sensitivity analysis indicates that one type of risk-management strategy for the water system, retrofitting pump stations, appears to be highly effective in reducing expected losses from future disasters.

This paper provides an account of how the Global Earth Observation Catastrophe Assessment Network (GEO-CAN) was formed to facilitate a rapid damage assessment after the 12 January 2010 Haiti earthquake. GEO-CAN emerged from the theory of crowdsourcing and remote sensing-based damage interpretation and represents a new paradigm in post-disaster damage assessment. The GEO-CAN community, working with the World Bank (WB), the United Nation Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) led the way for a rapid Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) utilizing remote-sensing based analysis as the primary source of information for building damage. The results of the GEO-CAN damage assessment were incorporated into the final PDNA framework developed by the WB-UNOSAT-JRC and adopted by the Haitian government. The GEO-CAN initiative provides valuable lessons on multi-agency collaboration, rapid and implementable damage assessment protocols under extreme situations for the disaster management profession, developmental organizations, and society.

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This study presents findings of an institutional capacity analysis of urban disaster risk reduction for informal settlements in the Guatemala Metropolitan Region. It uses a resource access perspective of vulnerability, actor-network theory, and qualitative data collection. The analysis reveals that there is interest in disaster risk reduction for the informal settlements; however, there is little in the way of direct financial or oversight relationships between informal settlement residents and all other actors. Respondents observed that informal settlements would probably remain inhabited; thus, there is a need for disaster risk reduction within these settlements. Disaster risk reduction capacity for informal settlements exists and can be further leveraged, as long as steps are taken to ensure appropriate access to and control of resources and oversight. Further, the nascent institutional arrangements should be strengthened through increased communication and coordination between actors, a decentralization of oversight and financial relationships, and mediation of identified resource conflicts.

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