Governments can significantly reduce earthquake mortality by enforcing quake-proof construction regulation. We examine why many governments do not. First, mortality is lower in countries with higher earthquake propensity, where the payoffs to investments in mortality prevention are greater....

Today, 370 million people live in cities in earthquake prone areas and 310 million in cities with a high probability of tropical cyclones. By 2050 these numbers are likely to more than double, leading to a greater concentration of hazard risk in many of the world's cities. The authors discuss...

"Built Up uncovers the roots of the global real estate industry in the machinations of a patron of Shakespeare, the merged lineages of business savvy women and men, startlingly innovative collaborations with the first English architect, and the radical explorations of other denizens of early...