Suchergebnisse

There is a paucity of empirical insights on how existing policies in disaster recovery and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) play out during disaster recovery in the Global South. This paper addresses this critical gap using the case study of 2013 Cyclone Phailin in Odisha. The data was collected through participatory and learning action tools and semi-structured interviews with key informants. This study found pervasive exclusion of women and local actors from recovery decision-making. The policies and guidance at national and subnational level lacked clear emphases on roles and responsibilities of the local governments, and did not emphasise their role in setting recovery objectives and priorities. We conclude that existing policies should emphasise immediate as well as longer-term WASH needs, adopt a multi-hazard perspective in preparedness and WASH policies, and feature WASH during recovery in the existing manuals, policies and programmes.

"This volume provides a comprehensive discussion and overview of urban resilience, including socio-ecological and economic hazard and disaster resilience. It provides a summary of state of the art thinking on resilience, the different approaches, tools and methodologies for understanding the subject in urban contexts, and brings together related reflections and initiatives. Throughout the different chapters, the handbook critically examines and reviews the resilience concept from various disciplinary and professional perspectives. It also discusses major urban crises, past and recent, and the generic lessons they provide for resilience. In this context, the authors provide case studies from different places and times, including historical material and contemporary examples, and studies that offer concrete guidance on how to approach urban resilience. Other chapters focus on how current understanding of urban systems - such as shrinking cities, green infrastructure, disaster volunteerism, and urban energy systems - are affecting the capacity of urban settlements and nation-states to respond to different forms and levels of stressors and shocks. The handbook concludes with a synthesis of the state of the art knowledge on resilience and points the way forward in refining the conceptualisation and application of urban resilient. The book is intended for scholars and graduate students in urban studies, environmental and sustainability studies, geography, planning, architecture, urban design, political science and sociology, for whom it will provide an invaluable and up-to-date guide to current approaches across these disciplines which converge in the study of urban resilience. The book also provides important direction to practitioners and civic leaders who are engaged in supporting cities and regions to position themselves for resilience in the face of climate change, unpredictable socio-environmental shocks and incremental risk accumulation"--

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of vulnerable people during flood events, impacts of changes in mobility on well-being and the extent to which frontline services, emergency planning officers and other service providers allocate resources for vulnerable members of the community to meet the challenges posed by floods.


Design/methodology/approach
– In-depth qualitative interviews carried out with 15 vulnerable residents, seven community representatives and eight service providers.


Findings
– Vulnerable people's well-being was negatively affected by the disruption to travel caused by floods, though support from the community to some extent redressed these negative feelings. Whilst there seems to be a strong response from both the community and the local authorities to the mobility needs of vulnerable people during floods, what seems to be missing is an equal response from the private sector in terms of provision of transport services to access goods such as food and money.


Practical implications
– More needs to be done to make sure that communication and support networks are formalised to address the potential unevenness of informal networks. Private companies need to engage more with customers. Improved information and more resilient services such as 4×4 vehicles and doorstep provision of goods and money would directly support vulnerable people who are highly dependent on their services.


Originality/value
– This study is the first in the UK to explore and compare the private experiences of vulnerable people with the views of stakeholders who could support them during floods.

Globally, over 95% of fire related deaths and injuries occur in low- and middle-income countries. Within informal settlements, the risk of fire resulting in injury or death is particularly high. This paper examines fire risks in informal settlements in New Delhi and Cape Town, and tented informal settlements in Lebanon. Our analysis draws on primary sources, secondary literature, statistical data and qualitative interviews. The distribution of fire risk across urban societies is a fundamentally political issue. Residential fire risk can be tackled by accessible, affordable, safety-compliant housing. That said, important interim measures can be taken to mitigate fire risk. Some of the risks requiring attention are similar across our case studies, driven by high population densities; flammable housing materials; unreliable or inaccessible access to safe power sources; and - in the case of Cape Town and New Delhi particularly - the inability of fire services to reach sites of fire. However, these common risks are embedded in distinct social, economic and political contexts that must be placed at the centre of any intervention. Interventions must also be aware that the risk of fire is not spread evenly within informal settlements, intersecting as it does with factors like gender, age, health and disability. Informal settlement fires have been under-studied to date. The studies that do exist tend to operate within disciplinary silos. This paper represents an important interdisciplinary approach to fire within informal settlements, which grounds technical data, modelling and experiments in political, social and economic realities.

PurposeGlobally, over 95% of fire related deaths and injuries occur in low- and middle-income countries. Within informal settlements, the risk of fire resulting in injury or death is particularly high. This paper examines fire risks in informal settlements in New Delhi and Cape Town, and tented informal settlements in Lebanon.Design/methodology/approachOur analysis draws on primary sources, secondary literature, statistical data and qualitative interviews.FindingsThe distribution of fire risk across urban societies is a fundamentally political issue. Residential fire risk can be tackled by accessible, affordable, safety-compliant housing. That said, important interim measures can be taken to mitigate fire risk. Some of the risks requiring attention are similar across our case studies, driven by high population densities; flammable housing materials; unreliable or inaccessible access to safe power sources; and – in the case of Cape Town and New Delhi particularly – the inability of fire services to reach sites of fire. However, these common risks are embedded in distinct social, economic and political contexts that must be placed at the center of any intervention. Interventions must also be aware that the risk of fire is not spread evenly within informal settlements, intersecting as it does with factors like gender, age, health and disability.Originality/valueInformal settlement fires have been under-studied to date. The studies that do exist tend to operate within disciplinary silos. This paper represents an important interdisciplinary approach to fire within informal settlements, which grounds technical data, modeling and experiments in political, social and economic realities.