Report Finds Which Cities are Most Resistant to Natural Disasters. Is Yours?

Paris felt the heat as wildfires raged around it. Caracas trembled when dual earthquakes struck nearby. Shanghai’s streets flooded with heavy rains. In just the past six months, many of the world’s major cities have been hit with natural disasters. And data suggests such events are on the rise. For a research team at AlphaGeo, that raised a key question: “How climate resilient are the world’s largest cities?”   

AlphaGeo is an AI company that uses data to predict natural disasters and assess their risks. It compiled a list of 72 of the world’s largest cities, then studied how likely each was to suffer a natural disaster and how ready the cities are to cope with such an event.  

“Resilience equals risk minus adaptation,” Parag Khanna told The New York Times. He's AlphaGeo’s founder. “Everyone talks about resilience, but no one measures it.”

AlphaGeo looked at data about how close a city was to flood-prone areas and fault lines. It studied the city's risk of hurricanes and wildfires. And it looked at a city's risk of extreme heat and drought. AlphaGeo also studied a city’s infrastructure. Are its buildings up to code? Do they have strong emergency services? Early warning systems?  

For 2026, AlphaGeo’s highest-rated city was Chicago. It’s inland and at low risk for earthquakes and wildfires. It has also taken major steps to protect itself from flooding. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was second on the list.    

The bottom of the list is made up of cities in South Asia. Many of them have massive populations. Ahmedabad, India is the least-resilient on the list. It has roughly three times the number of people as Chicago. Ahmedabad and Dhaka, Bangladesh, are exposed to extreme heat for much of the year. And both cities lack ways for people to escape it.      

Here are the most- and least-resilient cities:

1) Chicago

2) Addis Ababa

3) Melbourne, Australia

4) Barcelona, Spain

5) Ankara, Turkey

6) Buenos Aires, Argentina

7) Paris, France

8) Istanbul, Turkey

9) Bogotá, Colombia

10) Nairobi, Kenya

…

63) Taipei, Taiwan

64) Chittagong, Bangladesh

65) Karachi, Pakistan

66) Faisalabad, Pakistan

67) Kolkata, India

68) Lahore, Pakistan

69) Dhaka, Bangladesh

70) Multan, Pakistan

71) Hyderabad, Pakistan

72) Ahmedabad, India

Reflect: If you could help one place in the world become better prepared for disasters, where would you choose and why?