Making Cities Resilient Report 2012

Several cities report that they have integrated hazard risk information into their urban planning processes.
After an initial risk assessment in Bhubaneswar in 2003, the city updated its master plan and revisited its
building bylaws to account for hazard risks (16). Quito is developing risk-sensitive land use planning (22).
Makati City and Makassar 12 have updated their land use planning processes so that development in a
hazard -prone or environmentally-sensitive area requires an environmental compliance certificate.
Urban plans and disaster risk management plans in Cairns are linked to codes that offer specific guidance
to regulate development in areas prone to landslides, bushfires and flooding. (46)
Albay Province has supported 18 municipalities to prepare comprehensive land use plans that address
climate and disaster risks and integrate these risks into provincial plans. This has been institutionalised
through a special planning ordinance and an updated provincial Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) for
disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation and mitigation (45).
Colombo has taken several planning and development actions to minimize unplanned urban development,
prevent unauthorized construction and discourage investments in areas that are environmentally sensitive
and risk-prone (17).
In the SAMEN programme of Mashhad, Iran, a pilot risk reduction project is underway with support from
the provincial government. Thirty sub-projects are addressing the Ten Essentials, including risk mapping,
modelling earthquake scenarios, establishing emergency response teams, community-based disaster
risk management and land use planning (61).
Building codes and enforcement
Several cities report that building codes take into account the risk of hazards. However, most cities report
difficulties in enforcing and achieving compliance with the codes. Sometimes there is insufficient staff to
enforce the codes; in other cases, legislation is weak. In Makassar, while building permits are intended to
comply with building codes and environmental considerations, often they are issued without complete
compliance. When the city applied the HFA local self-assessment tool, they noted that legislation must be
strengthened. In Narok, Kisumu and Moshi, local councils have put codes and regulations in place, but all
struggle to enforce them. (40).
Thimphu has strict design requirements for particular hazards: for earthquake risk; density and land
coverage for landslide risk; and wind load standards for cyclone risk (42). Although the city conducts
annual inspections of buildings and facilities to review compliance with the national building code (31), it
has reported difficulties arising from its limited expertise and capacity to monitor construction and from
citizens who complain about higher construction costs associated with the need to comply with antiseismic
standards and regulations that limit buildings to 20 per cent of plot coverage (42).
Bhubaneswar has taken another approach to improve compliance with seismic building codes by focusing
on training engineers, architects and planners (and in some cases, masons) to use Rapid Visual Screening
(see more in Box 4.9) to assess the built environment’s capacity to resist earthquakes and on earthquake
engineering principles and multi-hazard construction technologies (32). The city has also updated its
building codes based on the recent risk assessments (16).
Relocation
Some cities have relocation programmes to move people living in precarious informal settlements to safer
sites. In Guicadale in Albay Province, the disaster risk reduction strategy centres on relocating businesses
12. This was prompted by the devastating landslides in 2004 and hazard, risk and vulnerability are now included in land use plans. All projects
that may impact the natural environment, including natural hazards, must have an environmental impact assessment and must be granted an
environmental compliance certificate before they can go ahead.
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