Latin America is the most urbanized region among developing regions and urbanization will not only continue but grow in the coming years; Estimates suggest that urbanization will increase and that 90 million more people will be living in cities and 4 million fewer people in rural areas by 2025.

 

These changes in the population’s spatial distribution will present a policy challenge as it will be necessary to plan adequate services for this growing urban population over the next 15 years, seeking to guide growth within a framework of sustainable development while minimizing environmental impacts.

 

Moreover, the impact of disasters caused by natural events has increased in recent years. Latin America and the Caribbean exhibits a growing incidence of disasters over the past four decades and has the second highest annual average number of disasters after Asia. During the period 1970-2010, the region registered more than 467 thousand deaths, an annual average of 4.5 million affected, and estimated losses of 160 billion dollars, representing a big challenge for the region (UNFPA/ISDR/UNHabitat (2012)).