Multirisk Analysis for a Healthy City

Dear Colleagues,

It is well known that the agglomeration of people, assets, and economic activity make cities particularly vulnerable to natural, including medical diseases, and human-made hazards and, therefore, disasters. Population growth and urban density; physical localization of urban settlements in areas at risk; rapid unplanned urbanization and the lack of disaster risk considerations in land management; and unwise environmental and natural resource management are just some of the main drivers of risk in the city environment. The number and magnitude of these disasters worldwide have risen since the 1970s in both frequency and impact on human wellbeing and economies, particularly in low and middle-income countries. In the next few years, this will be a truly relevant problem, as about 5 billion people are projected to live in cities by 2030.

Disasters have mainly two causes: the first is the event itself; the second includes the characteristics of the elements at risk (population, infrastructures, and economic activities), vulnerability, and exposure. People and cities suffer losses not just from single hazards, but also from multiple events in combination: triggered events, cascade effects, and rapid increases of vulnerability during successive hazards. The expression of territories and cities as complex systems is strictly related to the complex and multidimensional concepts of risk, resilience, and territorial vulnerability as stated above. Ecosystems, government, climate, society, and urban environment are all examples of complex and adaptive systems that, when perturbed by a natural or anthropogenic stressor, should demonstrate a high capacity to adapt and return to a new state of equilibrium.

Cities are places of organization of collective interests, evolving quickly as they depend on social, cultural, and technological changes. By developing public policies and creating physical and social environments that enable citizens to mutually support each other in carrying out all functions of life and achieving their full potential, cities can become Healthy Cities (World Health Organization).

Multirisk analysis, urban and territorial plans, land use pattern, mobility system, greenspace design, people awareness, and social perception of risks are some of the key elements to develop advance planning in order to reduce any kind of urban risks and to better support and enhance city health.

Authors are invited to contribute to this Special Issue by submitting theoretical and empirical studies and policy-related and practice-related contributions addressing any of the above topics.

Contributions must follow one of the three categories of papers (article, conceptual paper or review) of the journal and address the topic of the Special Issue. 

Prof. Dr. Elisabetta Maria Venco
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as conceptual papers are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• urban planning
• healthy city
• natural and human-made risks
• urban risks
• risk analysis
• complex system
• resilience and flexibility