Risky Cities: The Physical and Fiscal Nature of Disaster Capitalism

188 Pages·2022·1.926 MB·English

by  Albert S. Fu

Risky Cities
Nature, Society, and Culture
Scott Frickel, Series Editor
A sophisticated and wide-r anging so cio logi cal lit er a ture analyzing nature- society-
culture interactions has blossomed in recent de cades. This book series provides a plat-
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For a list of all the titles in the series, please see the last page of the book.
Risky Cities
The Physical and Fiscal Nature of
Disaster Capitalism
ALBERT S. FU
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark, New Jersey, and London
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Fu, Albert S., author.
Title: Risky cities: the physical and fiscal nature of disaster capitalism / Albert S. Fu.
Description: New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, [2022] | Series: Nature,
society, and culture | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021031064 | ISBN 9781978820302 (paperback) | ISBN 9781978820319
(cloth) | ISBN 9781978820326 (epub) | ISBN 9781978820333 (mobi) | ISBN 9781978820340
(pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Cities and towns. | Urbanization. | Environmental disasters. |
Risk management.
Classification: LCC HT151 .F79 2022 | DDC 307.76— dc23
LC rec ord available at https:// lccn. loc .g ov / 2021031064
A British Cataloging- in- Publication rec ord for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2022 by Albert S. Fu
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from
the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106 Somerset Street, New Brunswick,
NJ 08901. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law.
References to internet websites (URLs) w ere accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author
nor Rutgers University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since
the manuscript was prepared.
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1992.
www .r utgersuniversitypress . org
Manufactured in the United States of Amer i ca
For my daughter, Lara

Contents
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1 Living with Disaster and Capitalism 16
2 Sinkholes and the Risky Foundations of Cities 38
3 The Logistical Nightmare of Trash and Urban Nature 57
4 Fire, the Wildland– Urban Interface, and Feedback Loops 77
5 Assessing and Managing Risk 95
Conclusion: Regenerative Urbanism 115
Acknowle dgments 125
Notes 127
Index 165
vii

Abbreviations
ACS Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A.
ADB Asian Development Bank
BOO build- own- operate model
BOT build- operate- transfer model
CAPRA Central American Probabilistic Risk Assessment
CAT catastrophe bond
CCRIF Ca rib bean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Fa cil i ty
CME Chicago Mercantile Exchange
EIB Eu ro pean Investment Bank
EIOPA Eu rop ean Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
ESG environmental, social, and governance
FAO Food and Agriculture Organ ization of the United Nations
FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency
GFDRR Global Fa cil i ty for Disaster Reduction and Recovery
GNDR Global Network of Civil Society Organ izations for
Disaster Reduction
ILS insurance- linked securities
IMF International Monetary Fund
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
ISO International Standards Organ ization
LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
ix