Theannalsoftheamerican Academy

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THEANNALSOFTHEAMERICAN ACADEMY

LINKS BETWEEN POVERTY AND THE EK'VIRONMENT

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ratios of road vehicles to persons that are comparable to many European citíes. Even where thereare fewer road vehicles, road aecidents are often a particular problevn because the number of fatalities and serious injuries per road vehicle is much higher than in high-income countries (UNCUS 1996).The second ¡s the need to reduce accidents in the workplace—and in most urban áreas, there is an urgent need for measures to promote healthy and safe working practices and to penalize employers whocontravene them. The third área is ensuring adequate provisión of safe and stimulating play forchildrenand recreation for the entire city population.especiallyin thepoorest residential áreas where homeshave little interior and surrounding space for this.
The environmental problems that low-income
groups face are often ■inore related to inadequate provisión of infrastructure and
services, lackofany rule oflaw,
discrímination, and lack ofpolitical
influence than to a lack of income.
Disasters are considered to be exceptiunal events that suddenly result in large numbersofpeoplekilledorinjuredor large economiclosses. Assuch, theyaredis-tinguished from the environmental hazards discussed above. This distinction has its limitations. For instance, far more urban dwellers die of easilyprevented ill-nesses arising from environmental hazards in their food, water, or air than from disasters, yet the death toll from disasters gets more media attention.
Cyclones, high winds, and stonnshave probably ca\ised more deaths in urban áreas than other disasters in recent decades. F.aith(]u;il«'s have caused many of the biggest urban disasters. Floods alfect many more people. llian cyclonesand earth-quakes but kill fewer people. Landslides, üres, rpideinics, and industrial accidents are among the other urban disasters that need allrnlion. Global warming will increase the frequeney and...