Cities and crises

27/10/2011

Groupe URD has worked on the challenges facing humanitarians and reconstruction actors in urban contexts for a long time. We have conducted a large number of field missions and we have produced several books and numerous articles in connection with this issue. The conference of 26 April 2011 was an opportunity to share our experience in this domain and to revitalise the debate about the interaction between cities, humanitarian action and reconstruction. It aimed to review current thinking about vulnerability in built and urban environments and the issues involved in conducting humanitarian action and reconstruction in such contexts. This document is the topic overview which was prepared in advance of the conference to place the debate in its context and present the different issues raised by these questions