Issues and Challenges related to Catastrophe Risk Management of
Asia
Professor Tso-Chien PAN
Abstract:
Asia’s population growth and rapid urbanization are the key drivers of future risks in the
rapidly growing region of Asia and Southeast Asia.
With urban population increasing
dramatically worldwide, cities are playing an increasingly critical role in human societies and
their sustainability.
The world has just crossed a major landmark in its history with the majority of people now
living in cities. This has just happened to China as well based on its latest censor results.
Thus, a major challenge worldwide, and particularly so for Asia and Southeast Asia, is to
understand and predict how dynamics resulting from population growth and rapid urbanization
will impact the interactions between nature and human society.
During the past five decades,
the largest human and economic losses due to catastrophic events have occurred in Asia.
In
year 2011 alone, the world saw its highest natural catastrophe loss of USD $380 billions due
mainly to Asia and Southeast Asia disasters – the devastating Thailand flood and the massive
Japan earthquake followed by tsunami and nuclear reactors meltdown.
In 2012, the population data of major urban conglomerates show that Asia has 11 out of
the top 15 urban conglomerates of the world, with population >26 millions.
Population
growth and rapid urbanization of Asia and Southeast Asia thus present special challenges to
catastrophe risk management. The urban-based risks can possibly involve the risk domains
of natural catastrophes and manmade disasters, which may cover wind/flood effects,
earthquake shakings, infrastructure security, terrorism, pandemic, for example.
The
interaction of complex adaptive dynamic behaviour of societal response to catastrophes with
the cascading failure of interdependent networks of infrastructural systems is a massive
challenge for dealing with the domain of evolving new urban-based risks.
演講者介紹:
潘則建 教授,
工程院，院士
新加坡 南洋理工大學
巨災風險管理研究院，院長
土木及環境工程學院，教授
潘則建院長為新加坡南洋理工大學巨災風險管理研究院創始院長，此研究院的建立主要為進一
步對災害風險的認識、溝通和管理等方面做全面性的風險評估，堪稱亞洲目前唯一針對災害多
重性管理研究的學院。我們很榮幸有此難得之機會，邀請潘則建院長來本公司進行災害風險評
估之學術交流，交換寶貴意見。