Urban Risks in Disaster Management

Article by M.E.Reza

Urban Risks in Disaster ManagementUrban Risk issues in Malaysia rose to prominence following the December 2006 major floods. Since then till now there have been a number of flash floods and landslides including those in Kuala Lumpur which caused much disruption to economic and commercial activities and destruction to property. The landslide disaster at Bukit Antarabangsa in 2008 which occurred in an affluent area, albeit at the suburbs of the city was another calamity which revealed the insidious threats of natural disasters affecting urban areas. This post looks at urban risks in the context of disaster management as a updateon where we stand in terms of initiatives taken.Growth and urbanisations of cities in the Asia-Pacific Rim are vital elements in the developed and developing countries. Nevertheless they come with a catch the effects and brunt of climate change on natural hazards to the urban communities. It has been projected that in the next three decades over 60% of the world• s urban population growth will occur in Asia meaning a greater segment of the future possiblevictims will comprise those from this region. Acknowledging that any natural calamities and disasters will impact more on the urban population and communities, it becomes vital for the urban dwellers to be more aware of the impact and penalties, and make preparations thereof to reduce risks.Building community resilience of these urban population calls upon an integrated systems approach in enhancing their capacity to handlethe natural disasters. The vulnerability of the urban poor living in areas where the infrastructural services are less significantis much more acute compared to those staying in more affluent areas.The dangers facing the urban population in this region are likely to be greater compared to those in the rural areas due to their higher population density. Comparatively, the urban poor and other vulnerable groups will be the one at most risk against the natural hazards.With the pace of urbanization picking up briskly, demand for land becomes such that communities build houses in areas which are environmentally unstable, with risks of landslides, flash floods, and cave-ins. The situation is further compounded as seasonal disasters perpetuate the poverty of the urban poor through the regular damage to their livelihood and lives. The natural disasters undermine endeavours towards sustaining improvements to the poor urban communities. Reducing their vulnerability for the long-term calls for implementing practical community centred risk mitigation measures.A principal step in these measures is the conduct of Risk Assessment, involving the active participation of the urban community, which identify the scope of vulnerabilities, capacities of institution, communities, infrastructure, and the main hazards. The approach allows the development of action-oriented initiatives with sustainable risk reduction measures, the structure easily forming into a community action plan. Developing these measures through Action Planning Exercises with the involvement of all stakeholders• i.E. State authorities, NGOs, national societies (Red Cross Red Crescent), and community members may pave the way towards disaster risk reduction and also contribute towards developing community resilience. [i]The Urban Risk Assessment will eventually provide indicators of the magnitude, characteristics, coverage and spread, causes and the available options to mitigate the potential hazards. Awareness and understanding of the risks involved is essential in formulating risks reduction strategies, action plans, and contingency plans. With technological advances notably in IT, its now feasible to carry out 3D visualization of Urban Risk which has positive advantages for urban planning and disaster management.The UN ISDR recently launched a two-year global campaign for urban disaster risk reduction supporting the objectives of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) in urban areas. Urban risk reduction efforts nevertheless face a number of challenges including centralized approach, funding constraints, inadequate institutional capacity and insufficient technical resources. These initiatives led to the creation of the Partnership for Urban Risk Reduction ( PURR) for implementation of Urban Risk Reduction (URR) and enhancing local authorities• capacity to put into operation urban risk reduction practices in their respective localities. The long-term objectives aimed at achieving mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction in urban governance and urban development.How do we operationalise local action in URR?. Joint initiatives led by the state institutions in establishing local campaigns in partnership with local authorities, civil society organizations, Red Cross Red Crescent, NGOs, and the private sector would be an encouraging prospect.The UN ISDR recently launched a two-year global campaign for urban disaster risk reduction supporting the objectives of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) in urban areas. Urban risk reduction efforts nevertheless face a number of challenges including centralized approach, funding constraints, inadequate institutional capacity and insufficient technical resources. These initiatives led to the creation of the Partnership for Urban Risk Reduction ( PURR) for implementation of Urban Risk Reduction (URR) and enhancing local authorities• capacity to put into operation urban risk reduction practices in their respective localities. The long-term objectives aimed at achieving mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction in urban governance and urban development. [ii]Recognising the threats these urban risks pose to the communities Concerned, the Asia Regional Task Force on Urban Risk Reduction is actively promoting urban DRR in on-going activities in the Asia-Pacific region. Meanwhile a • Global Hotspot Study for Urban Areas• is being reviewed by the World Bank. Concerns over urban risks have prompted ISDR to develop a note on environmental aspects of disaster management. Even the possibility of opening urban risk reduction training is being considered. In the same context the RTF would conduct a regional mapping of urban risk reduction initiatives and it will be good to see how well we fare on actions taken. [iii]

Taking the discussions from here, subsequent posts will look into issues pertaining to Contingency Planning, Community Based Risk Reduction, and related matters of concern.