ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the social and economic relationship between urban development and wildfire. Wildfires are increasing around the world due to global climate change. Global warming has increased wildfire risk by worsening drought conditions, creating readily combustible fuel for fire, and longer fire seasons. The chapter discusses the problem of social vulnerability through the notion of blowback. Humans make voluntary or forced decisions to build homes and live in fire-prone wild and urban interfaces. Urban growth, as an economic engine, is an anthropocentric ideology bound to contemporary capitalism. The myopia of politicians results in urban planning, mitigation strategies, and other policies that address economic complications, but worsen existing social problems. In the developing world, social change such as globalization, changes in agriculture, development patterns, and climate change have exacerbated fire risk. The blowback from capitalist growth-oriented economic and urban policy is felt greatest by the most vulnerable.
