chapter 4 - DRK

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Strictly under embargo until Wednesday 22 September at 00:01 GMT (02:01 Geneva time)CHAPTER 7addition to key roles in pre-disaster damage limitation they also have an important rolein post-disaster response and rebuilding.The concentration of people and enterprises in cities is often seen as increasing risk andexposure but it also means economies of scale and proximity for most forms of infrastructure,including roads, electricity, water and sanitation, and services such as publictransport, communications, education, healthcare or good waste collection systems– all of which can contribute greatly to the reduction of risk. In a well-governed city,much of the disaster risk in terms of death and serious injury is enormously reducedby good-quality buildings and infrastructure. If these interventions do not preventdisasters, they can dramatically cut the death and injury tolls and should limit theeconomic impacts. This applies not just in cases of extreme weather or earthquakesbut also for industrial accidents and fires. In the past, fires devastated many of theworld’s wealthiest cities. Indeed, the city of Venice pushed its glass-making industriesto a separate island, Murano, in the 13th century to reduce the risk of fire. In morerecent times, fire risk reduction was built into building regulations and controls overenterprises and into rapid response capacity from emergency services. Unfortunately,such risk reduction is not present for most cities in low- and middle-income nations,or at least for their low-income districts.Chapter 1 described the web of institutions that help reduce or remove disaster risk inurban areas. In addition, a combination of land-use planning and management and theapplication of building standards should ensure that this continues even in a rapidlyexpanding city. In disaster situations, it may be easier to offer emergency assistanceand care to concentrated populations because the health infrastructure, road networks,airports, ports and communications systems are all in place. However, in most cities inlow- and middle-income nations, a high proportion of the population is not served byany of the risk reduction measures noted above. If cities are not well governed and thuspay little or no attention to the measures that reduce disaster risk, the consequencesof a disaster can be drastic. The recent earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince andits surrounds in Haiti is an example of how dangerous a city can be if it is externallydependent and poorly governed with little institutional capacity, no emergency plansand little capacity or will to address the structural causes of vulnerability.A mismatch between the city’s population growth and the capacity to keep down risks,support good-quality housing and provide infrastructure and services is often blamedon population growth or on ‘uncontrolled urbanization’. Usually though, it is an institutionalfailure to keep up with economic developments which attract migrants. Muchof what contributes to reducing disaster risk is the same as what is needed to satisfyeveryday needs.However, even in well-governed cities, it is a challenge to get disaster risk reductionembedded in all the relevant sectors and agencies, as Box 7.1 on Durban shows. Here,140
Strictly under embargo until Wednesday 22 September at 00:01 GMT (02:01 Geneva time)the city government has developed a municipal climate protection programme that isworking in partnership with its disaster management branch but it is difficult for bothto get buy-in from key sectors and support for disaster risk reduction when the cityfaces many pressing development needs and its budget is constrained by the recession.The uncertainty around levels of risk for many potential catalysts of disasters makes itdifficult to provide the needed economic rationale for preventive measures.Box 7.1 Disaster preparedness and climate change adaptationin Durban, South AfricaDurban is one of the few cities worldwide thathas a municipal government which has developeda locally rooted climate change adaptationstrategy. Developing this strategy has alsomade evident the need to strengthen the city’sdisaster management capacity – disaster risk reductionneeds to be embedded in the city’s sectoraldepartments and investment programmes.Durban is the largest port and city on theeast coast of Africa and has around 3.7 millioninhabitants. The municipal climate protectionprogramme was initiated in 2004 with an impactanalysis to identify the range and severityof climate change-related risks and the neededadaptation responses. It was difficult to get mostsectors of government to act because of highworkloads, extensive development challenges,the perception of climate change as a distantthreat and a shortage of skills and funds, so itwas decided to develop sector-specific adaptationplans that could be integrated into existingbusiness plans and funding. The health and watersectors were selected as pilots because oftheir high-risk profile and political importance.The risk analysis showed that adaptation inthese two key sectors could not eliminate disasterrisks so there was a need for both disaster riskreduction and disaster preparedness. A disastermanagement municipal adaptation plan (MAP)was developed. This highlighted how disastermanagement in the city was focused on shorttermrelief, such as handing out food and blankets,rather than proactively addressing strategicplanning issues focused on disaster prevention.Disaster management also lacked the staff and‘institutional muscle’ to ensure all municipal departmentsengage in risk assessment, monitoringand response. The disaster management MAPidentified five priorities:1. Implementing the disaster risk managementframework. This identifies the prerequisitesfor effective disaster management withinthe city, i.e., integrated institutional capacity,disaster risk assessment, disaster risk reduction,response and recovery, information managementand communication, education, training, publicawareness and research, and funding. Thisframework was submitted to the council but implementingit is likely to be a lengthy proceduregiven that it involves institutional change.2. Comprehensive city-wide risk assessment.This is being developed through a partnershipbetween the environmental planning andclimate protection department and the disastermanagement branch.3. Strengthen the disaster managementbranch. Although much needed, it isdifficult to secure the support given the constraintson the city budget.4. Revision of contingency plans forkey risk areas. There is an immediate needto update existing contingency plans (particularlyfor priority risk areas). These should includeconsiderations such as the need to establishemergency operation centres linked to an earlywarning system and regular rehearsal exercises.World Disasters Report 2010 – Focus on urban risk141
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214INDEXStrictly under embargo unti
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The International Federationof Red
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