Disasters risk in urban environments. Safe city versus disasters risk: an environmental case study in João Pessoa city, Paraíba State, Brazil

This document discusses the final report of a case study on disasters risk related to natural phenomena and anthropogenic features in the city of João Pessoa, capital of Paraíba State, located in the Northeast of Brazil. Developed by the Laboratory of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), this case study aimes to analyze and characterize the risks to assist the prevention and mitigation of disasters.

For the risk characterization and analysis, the areas and urban services that are more likely to suffer adversities were identified, as well as how they can compromise the resilience of the city. The administrative agencies and public institutions dealing with the transportation of dangerous goods, the distribution of piped natural gas, and the emissions of industrial pollutants, in order to analyze how their plans are structured in the development of its duties and services were consulted. Areas where subnormal agglomerates (favelas) are established were also analyzed. According to the main results of the work, the sector of transportation of dangerous goods has institutional flaws, due to non-compliance of the federal law for the sector. The distribution of piped natural gas involves a well-structured planning; however, it is quite liable to anthropogenic interference by the land use that does not necessarily depend on its operation. The population and environment of the city are very vulnerable to the industrial activities, because this sector does not present to the managing agency, and so little is requested by it, to present a risk management plan. The areas with subnormal agglomerates also feature extreme vulnerabilities. The city growth was given by a segment of the population (without legal permission) in areas prone to disaster risk. These areas are slopes and riverbanks that during periods of intense rainfall, exposes a large number of families to a great risk of disasters by mass movement and flood.