Building resilient cities: an assessment of disaster risk management policies in Southeast Asia

This report provides a framework for assessing disaster risk management policies in cities. It also presents the results of assessments and locally tailored policy recommendations in five cities of different institutional, geographic, socio-economic and environmental contexts in Southeast Asia. They include Bandung (Indonesia), Bangkok (Thailand), Cebu (Philippines), Hai Phong (Viet Nam) and Iskandar (Malaysia). 

The study highlights that Southeast Asian cities are largely underprepared for natural disaster risks. Through an assessment of disaster risk management (DRM) policies at national and subnational levels, the study aims to enhance urban resilience by: i) identifying policy challenges related to DRM; ii) assessing the impacts of current DRM policy practices; and iii) proposing more efficient and effective policy options to enhance urban resilience.