Urban steeplands in the tropics: an environment of accelerated erosion |
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| Authors: | Avijit Gupta Rafi Ahmad |
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| Institution: | (1) School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, U.K;(2) Department of Geography and Geology, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, 7, Jamaica |
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| Abstract: | The developing countries at present have a high urban growth rate that is likely to continue for at least another quarter-century.
In addition, many of these urban centres are located in the Neogene plate boundary zones and are subject to multiple earthquake
and volcanic hazards. Slope failures and accelerated surface and channel erosion are particularly severe in cities near active
plate margins, and in areas affected also by tropical cyclones. We discuss two extreme cases: Singapore and Kingston (Jamaica).
Singapore is located in a stable environment and the urbanization related problems of flood and slope instability have been
reduced by proper building and drainage practices at a considerable cost. In Kingston, the external disturbances are repetitive,
large-scale, and very difficult to control. The fast-growing cities in the tropics need to be carefully monitored, especially
when located in an unstable physical environment.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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| Keywords: | Kingston plate-margin cities Singapore slope failures tropical cities tropical cyclones urban floods |
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