Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters In China Japan And Beyond

This volume examines lessons learned in reducing the impact of disasters on communities in China, Japan and other countries world-wide. Asia is the most disaster-prone continent. The 2012 data on natural disasters in 28 Asian countries, released by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Belgian-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters on December 11th, 2012 showed that, from 1950 to 2011, nine out of ten people affected by disasters globally were in Asia; that of the top five disasters that created the most damage in 2012, three were in China; that China led the list of most disasters in 2012; and, that China was the only “multi-hazard”-prone country. Similarly, the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake was the greatest known earthquake ever to have hit Japan and one of the five strongest ever recorded earthquakes in the world since 1900. Subsequently, the Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters at the University of Massachusetts Boston organized a conference in November 2012 to survey the best practices in post-disaster rebuilding efforts in China and Japan. This edited book consists of selected papers from the proceedings of that event and previously invited contributions from leading scholars in post-disaster rebuilding in China, Japan and Namibia.

June 18-19, 2018 Rome, Italy Key Topics : Social Sciences and Medical Sociology, Social Sciences and Community Studies, Social Sciences and Epidemiology, Social Sciences and Public Health, Social Science and Nursing, Social Sciences and Education, Social Sciences and Social Work, Social Sciences and Psychology, Social Sciences and Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences, Social Science and Anthropology, Social Sciences and Gender Studies, Social Sciences and Sociology, Social Sciences and Political Studies, Social Sciences and Criminal Justice, Social Sciences and Disaster Management, Social Sciences and Economics, Social Sciences and Communication Studies, Technology and Society, Social Work and NGO’s,

We are witnessing an ever-increasing level and intensity of disasters from Ecuador to Ethiopia and beyond, devastating millions of ordinary lives and causing long-term misery for vulnerable populations. Bringing together 26 case studies from six continents, this volume provides a unique resource that discusses, in considerable depth, the multifaceted matrix of natural and human-made disasters. It examines their bearing on the loss of human and productive capital; the conduct of national policies and the setting of national development priorities; and on the nature of international aid and bilateral assistance strategies and programs of donor countries. In order to ensure the efficacy and appropriateness of their support for disaster survivors, international agencies, humanitarian and disaster relief organizations, scholars, non-governmental organizations, and members of the global emergency management community need to have insight into best practices and lessons learned from various disasters across national and cultural boundaries. The evidence obtained from the numerous case studies in this volume serves to build a worldwide community that is better informed about the cultural and traditional contexts of such disasters and better enabled to prepare for, respond to, and finally rebuild sustainable communities after disasters in different environments. The main themes of the case studies include: • the need for community planning and emergency management to unite in order to achieve the mutual aim of creating a sustainable disaster-resilient community, coupled with the necessity to enact and implement appropriate laws, policies, and development regulations for disaster risk reduction; • the need to develop a clear set of urban planning and urban design principles for improving the built environment’s capacities for disaster risk management through the integration of disaster risk reduction education into the curricula of colleges and universities; • the need to engage the whole community to build inclusive governance structures as prerequisites for addressing climate change vulnerability and fostering resilience and sustainability. Furthermore, the case studies explore the need to link the existence and value of scientific knowledge accumulated in various countries with decision-making in disaster risk management; and the relevance and transferability from one cultural context to another of the lessons learned in building institutional frameworks for whole community partnerships.

What would you do if a category five monster cyclone was headed your way? Drive as far as you could, as quickly as you could in the opposite direction? What if there were no cars? What if there were no roads? What if you were on a tiny island? What if there was nowhere to run to? How would you feel, knowing that when it was over it could be weeks before anyone came to help? Thousands of people live with this possibility every day, and their resilience and coping skills are incredible. However, climate change threatens to make these events worse, and all the while the sea levels are rising, and these islands are sinking. Bringing together the perspectives of the people on small, remote islands in the South Pacific, the aid organisations who help after a disaster, and the governments, this book investigates how we should respond. These are the stories of people for whom climate change is not a theoretical future, but a daily reality.

Depopulation, Deindustrialisation and Disasters are three of the biggest problems facing Japan today. This book discusses how sustainable communities are being created in Japan in an attempt to overcome the threat of the triple Ds . It provides an overview of how each of these three core issues endangers the sustainability of local communities especially, but also discusses how they might also provide an opportunity to replace outdated paradigms, rooted in expansion and competition, with a new way forward on a global scale. The authors explore how the Japanese government has followed the worldwide trend of implementing neo-liberal policies in response to globalisation and how these policies have resulted in a mass exodus into larger cities such as Tokyo, leaving local communities more vulnerable to socio-economic threats. The authors highlight non-metropolitan areas facing the ‘triple D’ threat and introduce several case studies on how these are working towards achieving a more sustainable future. Written by members of the LORC (Research Centre for the Local Public Human Resources and Policy Development, Ryukoku University) this collection will be invaluable to scholars across the social and political sciences and to those interested in how innovative policy making can positively influence sustainable development.

Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the American Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. Biloxi, Mississippi, a small town on the coast, was one of the towns devastated directly by the storm. Drawing on ethnographic, media, and historic document research and analysis, Jennifer Trivedi explores the pre-disaster cultural, historical, social, political, and economic distinctions that shaped the recovery ofBiloxi and Biloxians. Trivedi examines how networks of people, groups, and institutions worked to prepare for and recover from the hurricane, reinforcing the distinctions that existed before the storm.

The Routledge Companion for Architecture Design and Practice provides an overview of established and emerging trends in architecture practice. Contributions of the latest research from international experts examine external forces applied to the practice and discipline of architecture. Each chapter contains up-to-date and relevant information about select aspects of architecture, and the changes this information will have on the future of the profession. The Companion contains thirty-five chapters, divided into seven parts: Theoretical Stances, Technology, Sustainability, Behavorism, Urbanism, Professional Practice and Society. Topics include: Evidence-Based Design, Performativity, Designing for Net Zero Energy, The Substance of Light in Design, Social Equity and Ethics for Sustainable Architecture, Universal Design, Design Psychology, Architecture, Branding and the Politics of Identity, The Role of BIM in Green Architecture, Public Health and the Design Process, Affordable Housing, Disaster Preparation and Mitigation, Diversity and many more. Each chapter follows the running theme of examining external forces applied to the practice and discipline of architecture in order to uncover the evolving theoretical tenets of what constitutes today’s architectural profession, and the tools that will be required of the future architect. This book considers architecture’s interdisciplinary nature, and addresses its current and evolving perspectives related to social, economic, environmental, technological, and globalization trends. These challenges are central to the future direction of architecture and as such this Companion will serve as an invaluable reference for undergraduate and postgraduate students, existing practitioners and future architects.