ABSTRACT
There are numerous reasons for the increase in economic impact from natural disasters. Population growth and increasing global urbanization are two key factors. In 1950, approximately 30 percent of the world’s population lived in cities. By the year 2000, this number had grown to about 50 percent, or approximately three billion people. Projections by the United Nations show that by 2025 this figure will increase to 60 percent based on a global population estimate of 8.3 billion people. Many of these cities, particularly in Asia, are located in disaster-prone areas (Michele-Kerjan et al. 2011).
