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- Wamsler, Christine
(author)
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Achieving Urban Resilience: Understanding and Tackling Disasters from a Local Perspective
- 2008
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In: Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Urban Design and Planning. - : Thomas Telford Ltd.. - 1755-0793 .- 1755-0807. ; 161:4, s. 163-171
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The damage caused by a dramatic worldwide increase in so-called natural disasters is staggering, with the poor in developing countries being most at risk. This paper analyses: (a) the key variables and their causal relations that underlie the complex system of risk and disaster occurrence in slums; (b) the impacts of disasters on slums; (c) the strategies used by local people to cope with risk and disasters; and (d) the reasons for weak coping. The views and knowledge of slum dwellers in El Salvador are the focus of this analysis. On this basis, fi ve complementary ex ante risk-reduction measures have been identifi ed and developed to match local needs, capacities and dimensions of risk—hazard reduction (or prevention), mitigation, preparedness, risk ‘fi nancing’ and stand-by for recovery. The complementary measures provide a frame of reference that allows urban development actors to systematically search for and design potential risk reduction measures. It is concluded that keeping these measures compartmentalised and separate from each other during planning and implementation of urban development programmes helps ensure both sustainable poverty reduction and urban resilience.
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