ABSTRACT
A variety of actors, ranging from the international to the local level, have sought to reduce disaster risk in urban areas through policy responses and interventions. While urban risk reduction policies are in their infancy, or altogether absent in some contexts, a number of innovative strategies have been developed and implemented successfully elsewhere. Risk reduction policies are also differentiated in terms of their orientation to shorter-term reconstruction and response needs or development-oriented strategies seeking to reduce vulnerability in the long term. These differences are partly shaped by the resources and technical capacity available to national and local actors, but also by their political will and commitment.
