World Disasters Report 2010 - International Federation of Red Cross ...

The management of the major hazard installation
regulations (which govern the notification, risk
assessment and emergency planning required
of new and existing hazardous installations) also
needs improvement.
5. Hosting a disaster management
summit. To help raise the profile and awareness
of the disaster management MAP including
disaster risk reduction.
142
What has emerged from the development
of the disaster management MAP is the sobering
realization that despite the serious risks
posed by climate change, basic institutional
and resource challenges within local government
are delaying appropriate planning and
responses. These challenges will have to be
met but they inevitably depend on political will
and the ability to access additional funding.��
Land-use management and disaster risk
For almost all urban centres, it falls to local government to manage land use and this
should ensure that dangerous sites, such as flood plains, are not built on, that there is
adequate provision for schools and other services, that open space for parks and playgrounds
is protected and that watersheds and natural coastal protective defences, such
as mangroves and dunes, are preserved in an ecological manner. Land-use management
also has to ensure that sufficient land with infrastructure is available for housing and
enterprises. Local regulations on site development and buildings should ensure that
new buildings meet health and safety standards. All this helps to reduce risks from
everyday hazards and from disasters, especially when combined with the provision of
essential infrastructure and services. Indeed, they help stop extreme weather events
becoming disasters. They should also be the means by which risks from earthquakes
are much reduced. However, it is hard for any politician to gain votes by pointing to
a disaster that did not happen and it is difficult, or even impossible, for the agencies
concerned with disaster response to get attention paid to these deficiencies.
Informal settlements in a city are a reflection of governance failures – especially in
land-use management. They reflect a failure of local authorities to ensure sufficient
land with infrastructure is available for new housing in appropriate locations. Very
often this is linked to the lack of power and resources available to city governments and
the disinterest of national government and international agencies in addressing city
problems. The results are visible in almost all cities in low-income nations and most
cities in middle-income nations: urban expansion is haphazard, determined by where
different households, residential areas, enterprises and public sector activities locate
and build, legally or illegally. There is no plan to guide this process or if there is, it is
ignored. There are usually many regulations to prevent this but these are avoided or
bypassed by politicians and real estate interests.
As cities expand in an unplanned patchwork of high and low density, this greatly
increases the costs of providing risk-reducing infrastructure and services. It also means
the segregation of low-income groups in illegal settlements on the most hazardous sites
such as those affected by periodic floods, sea surges, seasonal storms and land subsidence.