ABSTRACT
As noted in Chapter 7, a hazard is a potentially damaging event that causes loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption, or environmental degradation. 1 A number of less frequent and smaller-scale hazards influence safety and security in urban areas. Yet, while hazards that trigger large-scale disaster events and thus cause huge losses are well documented, smaller-scale hazards that result in aggregate loss over a longer period of time are often not recorded. Fire, flooding, building collapse and traffic accidents are some of the small-scale hazards common to urban areas.
