Land use planning for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation: Operationalizing policy and legislation at local levels

This paper explores the role of planners in reducing hazard risk through settlement design, land-use plans and legislation and identifies shortcomings and constraints towards achieving Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). It shows that land-use planning systems are still primarily geared toward promoting and facilitating development and have not evolved sufficiently to take account of DRR and climate change.

The findings of this paper are the following:

• As mapping has moved ahead, alongside advances in information technology, information has been made available to communities. However, information is not in itself education and many local governments are still wary of releasing too much information and mapping.
• Building codes, although not the direct responsibility of planners, have been extremely successful in reducing the risk of cyclonic destruction of residential dwellings.
• The use of building codes, within urban design, extends to such features as raised slabs and high set living areas, enabling planners to specify a range of conditions for building in areas of minor to moderate flood risk.
• Where DRR has become a priority for institutions and is incorporated into specific legislation, such as the construction of critical infrastructure, planners are able to incorporate additional risk reduction strategies into planning decisions.

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, Volume 7, Issue 2, Pages 158-172.