Risky Cities: The Physical and Fiscal Nature of Disaster Capitalism
Over half the world’s population lives in urban regions, and increasingly disasters are of great concern to city dwellers, policymakers, and builders. However, disaster risk is also of great interest to corporations, financiers, and investors. Risky Cities is a critical examination of global urban development, capitalism, and its relationship with environmental hazards. It is about how cities live and profit from the threat of sinkholes, garbage, and fire. Risky Cities is not simply about post-catastrophe profiteering. This book focuses on the way in which disaster capitalism has figured out ways to commodify environmental bads and manage risks. Notably, capitalist city-building results in the physical transformation of nature. This necessitates risk management strategies -such as insurance, environmental assessments, and technocratic mitigation plans. As such capitalists redistribute risk relying on short-term fixes to disaster risk rather than address long-term vulnerabilities. 
1139791509
Risky Cities: The Physical and Fiscal Nature of Disaster Capitalism
Over half the world’s population lives in urban regions, and increasingly disasters are of great concern to city dwellers, policymakers, and builders. However, disaster risk is also of great interest to corporations, financiers, and investors. Risky Cities is a critical examination of global urban development, capitalism, and its relationship with environmental hazards. It is about how cities live and profit from the threat of sinkholes, garbage, and fire. Risky Cities is not simply about post-catastrophe profiteering. This book focuses on the way in which disaster capitalism has figured out ways to commodify environmental bads and manage risks. Notably, capitalist city-building results in the physical transformation of nature. This necessitates risk management strategies -such as insurance, environmental assessments, and technocratic mitigation plans. As such capitalists redistribute risk relying on short-term fixes to disaster risk rather than address long-term vulnerabilities. 
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Risky Cities: The Physical and Fiscal Nature of Disaster Capitalism

Risky Cities: The Physical and Fiscal Nature of Disaster Capitalism

by Albert S. Fu
Risky Cities: The Physical and Fiscal Nature of Disaster Capitalism

Risky Cities: The Physical and Fiscal Nature of Disaster Capitalism

by Albert S. Fu

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$32.95 
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Overview

Over half the world’s population lives in urban regions, and increasingly disasters are of great concern to city dwellers, policymakers, and builders. However, disaster risk is also of great interest to corporations, financiers, and investors. Risky Cities is a critical examination of global urban development, capitalism, and its relationship with environmental hazards. It is about how cities live and profit from the threat of sinkholes, garbage, and fire. Risky Cities is not simply about post-catastrophe profiteering. This book focuses on the way in which disaster capitalism has figured out ways to commodify environmental bads and manage risks. Notably, capitalist city-building results in the physical transformation of nature. This necessitates risk management strategies -such as insurance, environmental assessments, and technocratic mitigation plans. As such capitalists redistribute risk relying on short-term fixes to disaster risk rather than address long-term vulnerabilities. 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781978820302
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Publication date: 03/18/2022
Series: Nature, Society, and Culture
Pages: 188
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Albert S. Fu is professor of sociology at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. He has previously published articles in Cities, City & Community, Critical Sociology, International Journal of Urban & Regional Research, and Urban Studies.

Table of 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

Acknowledgments 125

Notes 127

Index 165

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