This collaborative study of environmental risks in ten of the world's major cities was led by the International Geographical UNion's Study Group on the Disaster Vulnerability of Mega-Cities. Geographers, planners annd other experts examine the hazard experiences of case study cities and analyse their future risks. The authors conclude that the natural disaster potential of the biggest cities is expanding at a pace which far exceeds the rate of urbanization.
James K. Mitchell chaired the U.S. National Academy of Science Ad Hoc Committee on the International Decade for National Disaster Reduction and is founding editor of Global Environmental Change. He is currently professor of geography at Rutgers University.