Figure 1: Core of City as a system

City is a complex socio-ecological system which is not just congregation of people but also services and infrastructure associated with them. City as a system consists of three core area (Fig. 1) which are1. Physical and core system which includes infrastructure, built typology such as residential and commercial and other utility buildings. 2. Ecological system consists of green and blue infrastructure, natural resources and quality of air. 3. Social and economic system which includes demography, governance and legislation, economic trend, labor market etc.

Figure 1 Core of City as a system

Source: Adapted from Cities at risk Building a resilient future for the world’s urban centres, 2020

The word “urbanization” comes from the Latin word “urbs,” which means “city.” According to the United Nations, urbanization is defined as the movement of people from rural to urban areas in quest of better livelihood opportunities, resulting in population growth in urban areas. It is a demographic phenomenon that exhibits a long term progressive process of population concentration in urban areas. Data reveals that the rate of urban population growth is indeed surpassing the rate of population growth globally, indicating a faster rate of urbanization. According to the index of UN population, the world’s population will reach 11 billion by the turn of the era. Northern America (82 percent of thee populations residing in cities in 2018), Latin America and the Caribbean (81 percent), and Oceania (68 percent) are recognized for being the most urbanized regions today. As per this trend we can predict By 2025, at least half a billion more people will live in urban areas than in 2019. Africa and Asia will account for 86% of new urban residents. Due to rapid urbanization, cities face major challenges and currently, the entire world is reeling with the perils of it. Density increases the demand on land and basic services, resulting in unstructured and unlawful settlement. It also encourages settlements in riskprone areas where there is no proper disaster risk reduction mandates as a result of inadequate governance. Expansion of density also causes decreasing ecosystems, severe climate change consequences, and other factors. All of them conjointly pose significant problems to cities. Based on the framework used by the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies, four major categories of risks can be identified which nowadays every developing cities are facing as a aftermath of urbanization. They are as follows1. Natural catastrophe and climate- due to rapid urbanization people are exposed to extreme and vulnerable climate condition which leads to natural hazards and disasters. 2. Technology and space- imprudent use of smart technology causes massive use of data which leads to power outage effecting the essential infrastructure for the citizens. 3. Geopolitics and society- current biggest geopolitics is associated with the topic of climate and it has a great impact on common people. 4. Finance, economics and trade- economic development seems to be a challenge for most of the governments which increase global financial risk.