Rapid urbanisation, climate change, infrastructure deficits, and governance weaknesses reshape risk in Southern African cities. Disaster risk is not a natural inevitability but the outcome of poor planning and socio-political inequalities. Integrating disaster risk reduction (DRR) into urban planning emerges as a necessity to break cycles of vulnerability and exclusion. This chapter highlights key challenges such as institutional fragmentation, financial constraints, and lack of risk data while framing DRR as a governance and social justice imperative. Aligned with the Sendai Framework, SDG 11, and the New Urban Agenda, this chapter sets the foundation for context-specific approaches that embed resilience in everyday planning practices to build safer, more inclusive urban futures.