Risky Cities: The Physical and Fiscal Nature of Disaster Capitalism

"Fu offers a theoretically rich and empirically grounded analysis of how disaster capitalism and unsustainable urban development transforms environmental bads into economically valuable goods. These transformations have devastating consequences, further exacerbating social and environmental inequities in a highly urbanized and warming world. Risky Cities is essential reading for anyone with interests in urban political economy, environmental social science, and global studies."

Andrew Jorgenson, Professor of Sociology, Boston College

"I see Risky Cities becoming the landmark work on how 'everyday' urban risks are produced and then commodified-and what we might do to arrest this process."

Tim Haney, Board of Governors Research Chair in Resilience & Sustainability, Mount Royal University, Calgary

"Risky Cities is a critical examination of global urban development, capitalism, and its relationship with environmental hazards. It is about how cities live and profit from the threat of sinkholes, garbage, and fire. Risky Cities is not simply about post-catastrophe profiteering. This book focuses on the way in which disaster capitalism has figured out ways to commodify environmental bads and manage risks. Notably, capitalist city-building results in the physical transformation of nature."

ASA Environmental Sociology Section Newsletter