Risks in urban environment

This is my first blog or actually I would prefer to say this is a lecture diary of sustainable global technologies -course. During the first lecture we talked about natural hazard and urban risks and the lecture was kept by Dr. Philipp Schmidt-Thomé. Natural hazards include for example avalanches, forest fires, floods, storms, earthquakes, which most of them are independent of human actions if we are not considering indirect influences like climate change. Urban risks are the threats that are directed toward urban areas.  If one of the risks occurs it can cause loss of human lifes, serious physical damages and environmental deterioration. These risks are for example the natural hazards, technological hazards and deceases. In this case we have strong human point of view, a risk is not a risk if it is not related to vulnerability so that it can harm human lifes. An avalanche in an area where nobody is living is not a risk. What I understood during the lecture was that most of these risks are men caused by themselves. Some of the big cities are built next to rivers or in a coastal area which are the flood prone areas, and just because the places have had some advantages and the risk is so small, the cities are not removed.

I think in Helsinki we have very few risks of natural hazards, compared to other parts of the Europe. Natural risks that can affect us mostly are storms, floods and forest fires. Other risks are really marginal. Of course if climate change is getting stronger it will cause stronger storms and unusual weather. It also depends whose opinion we are asking. Politicians and other high position officers make decisions which are favorable for them and their interests (to have the support of the public). People living in a city are concerned about safety and living. Who is going to pay all the damages if something happens? The situation can be also that people don’t know what the risks are and how to act when one occurs. Laws and regulations have a big impact how people can be protected like regulating how high from the sea level buildings must be built. Insurance companies are making business with these risks. They are interested in how probable the risks are. In brief, there are many stakeholders with different interests affecting how risks are taken into consideration. Cities can’t be removed but people can be prepared against the risks. Ensure that hospitals, police stations, fire stations and rescue services are in a safe area. Open communication and information about the risks and different scenarios will make people to be aware of risks affecting our surroundings.