Primer On Natural Hazard Management In Integrated Regional Development Planning

This volume focuses on the breakdown in sustainabilityâ€"the capacity of the planet to provide quality of life now and in the futureâ€"that is signaled by disaster. The authors bring to light why land use and sustainability have been ignored in devising public policies to deal with natural hazards. They lay out a vision of sustainability, concrete suggestions for policy reform, and procedures for planning. The book chronicles the long evolution of land-use planning and identifies key components of sustainable planning for hazards. Stressing the importance of balance in land use, the authors offer principles and specific reforms for achieving their visions of sustainability.

Reviewing current policies and practices, the book assesses the financial, economic and physical risk of building in hazardous areas, and looks at how societies approach economic development while trying to create a more resilient built environment in spite of the dangers. It examines the vulnerability of economic and social infrastructure to natural hazard events, looks at policies which imperil infrastructure, and proposes new development approaches to be undertaken by sovereign states, international development banks, NGOs, and bilateral aid agencies.

Efficient and equitable policies for managing disaster risks and adapting to global environmental change are critically dependent on development of robust options supported by integrated modeling. The book is based on research and state-of-the art models developed at IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis) and within its cooperation network. It addresses the methodological complexities of assessing disaster risks, which call for stochastic simulation, optimization methods and economic modeling. Furthermore, it describes policy frameworks for integrated disaster risk management, including stakeholder participation facilitated by user-interactive decision-support tools. Applications and results are presented for a number of case studies at different problem scales and in different socio-economic contexts, and their implications for loss sharing policies and economic development are discussed. Among others, the book presents studies for insurance policies for earthquakes in the Tuscany region in Italy and flood risk in the Tisza river basin in Hungary. Further, it investigates the economic impact of natural disasters on development and possible financial coping strategies; and applications are shown for selected South Asian countries. The book is addressed both to researchers and to organizations involved with catastrophe risk management and risk mitigation policies.

Barrier islands. Flood plains. Earthquake faults. Sometimes the environment poses threats to our well being, yet many of us continue to choose to live in risky or dangerous places. And on top of the "knowns" are the other, more hidden hazards related to environmental contamination that pose equally serious threats to our health and well being. But where are these places and what types of hazards are found there? American Hazardscapes examines the risks associated with living and owning property in diverse regions across the United States, offering dual perspectives: that of the geographer and that of the social science hazards researcher. The book summarizes what we already know about regional patterns of hazard events and losses during the previous three decades and goes further to shed light on the nature of the events themselves and their impact on society. Written for the relocating citizen and the policy maker alike, American Hazardscapes presents a regional ecology of disaster-prone or disaster-resistant states. It also offers thoughts on what local, state, and federal managers need to do to meet the challenge of reducing hazard losses in the next century.