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| INTEGRATED URBAN DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT: AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH AND CHALLENGE IN THE 21ST CENTURY |
| ZHANG Ji-quan1, ZHANG Hui1, OKADA Norio2 |
1. College of Urban and Environmental Science, Natural Disaster Research Institute, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China;
2. Laboratory of Natural Disaster Risk Management, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Uji 611-0011, Kyoto, Japan |
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Abstract The Urban development in the 21st Century is not only the competition for economic strength, science and information, it surely is the competition for urban security including ecological environment and disaster mitigation and prevention. It can be said that the capacity for preventing and mitigating disasters will become the mark to comprehensively evaluate the whole function and capacity for defending the safety of a city. The new concept recently introduced in disaster management system in the world is called the Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRM). This concept has been introduced to mark the last decade as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction incorporating the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) among other related endeavors. Risk management has introduced structured and systematic processes and procedures for examining risk factors involved and for making decisions based on them. This innovative application of the basic methodology of the risk management process presents a fresh approach to understand the nature of disasters, prevent its harmful effects, as well as seek opportunities from their occurrences. It integrates existing knowledge and techniques on risk reduction and response for disaster management. The concept of IDRM is relatively a new one both in theory as well as in practice. The Integrated Urban Disaster Risk Management (IUDRM) has become an important strategy and model in contemporary disaster management. The IUDRM concept is a purposeful viewpoint that addresses holistically and comprehensively the various concerns and gaps in the urban disaster management cycle. In this regard, it necessarily focuses on the underlying causes of disasters, the conditions of disaster risks and vulnerability of the urban areas. It also emphasizes multilevel and multidisciplinary cooperation and collaboration to achieve effective disaster risk reduction and response. It also facilitates broad-based participation in policy and program development in urban disaster reduction and response as they relate with other development concerns, viz. poverty reduction, land use planning, environment protection, and food security. This paper introduces the necessity, basic meaning and principles of the integrated urban disaster risk management and discusses the countermeasures, implementation process and strategies of the integrated urban disaster risk management. The IUDRM concept emphasizes hazard mapping and vulnerability assessment as a fundamental tool for effective decision-making and efficient sharing of disaster information. Thus, the IUDRM concept promotes good decision-making and effective use of limited resources.
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Received: 03 July 2006
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2007, Vol. 22 
