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This chapter presents a critical examination of the interaction between concepts such as equity and accessibility in a framework of sustainable and inclusive urban development. The analysis compiles a series of reflections that build on previous research that focusses on the role of transport as enabler of opportunities for material and social capital, healthcare and leisure, which contribute to human development and well-being. The research discusses accessibility metrics for mandatory and non-mandatory travel in the context of current global agendas for social and development policies. It also introduces methodological reflections in relation to the analysis of accessibility indices from an equity perspective highlighting the role of equity metrics such as the Palma ratio and Lorenz curves. The authors link accessibility and urban development seeking to inform current approaches for policy development and assessment in a context of high manifested inequity. The research is set in the context of the Bogotá Metropolitan Region, a paradigmatic case of transport development and policy in the Global South. The findings seek to contribute to present transport policy and practice, providing relevant insights to support actions that redistribute accessibility to opportunities and questioning some of the paradigms of mainstream transport planning in cities like Bogotá, suggesting a more relevant role of transport policy as a potential engine of equity and social development.

The community plays a crucial role in disaster risk reduction (DRR). The Hyogo Declaration adopted at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction held in Kobe in 2005 stresses that strengthening community-level capacities to reduce disaster risk at the local level is especially needed (UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction [UNISDR], 2005). Following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011 in Japan, community-based organizations (CBOs) have conducted various activities, such as searching and rescuing victims, closing gates, monitoring tsunamis, assisting evacuation, firefighting, and operating evacuation shelters at the risk of their staff's lives, while local governments lost their staff and facilities in the functions of disaster management. Some 250 volunteer members of firefighting CBOs were dead or are still missing.