Characteristics of a Disaster-resilient Community: A Guidance Note

This guidance note is for government and civil society organisations working on disaster risk reduction (DRR)initiatives at community level, in partnership with vulnerable communities. It shows what a ‘disaster-resilient community’ might consist of, by setting out the many different elements of resilience.

It also provides some ideas about how to progress towards resilience. The version of the guidance note you are reading is a pilot version, based on a desk study and discussions with experts. This is now being tested in the field and it will be revised in the light of those experiences. Everyone is welcome to use the note, and feedback is similarly welcome.

How to Build Disaster Resilient Communities

Chris D. Poland, S.E.

Healthy cities continuously grow by driving economic development while protecting cultural heritage. Success, in part, depends on a healthy built environment that is rooted in contemporary urban planning, sustainability and disaster resilience. Our job, as design professionals, is to provide a built environment that supports all of those goals. Our designs need to be efficient, economical, adaptive, sustainable, and disaster resilient. We are doing well on all fronts except for the last. We need to develop, and include in the code, provisions that will provide the buildings and lifelines needed to support disaster resilience.

Resilient communities have a credible disaster response plan that assures a place and ability to govern after a disaster has struck. Their power, water, and communication networks begin operating again shortly after a disaster and people can stay in their homes, travel to where they need to be, and resume a fairly normal living routine within weeks. The return to a "new" normal can then occur within a few years. While every building should protect its occupants from harm, a select few buildings need to remain operational and a larger group needs to be at least usable during repair. Lifeline systems must be restored quickly to support response and reconstruction.

Resilient City

by David R. Godschalk

This paper proposes a comprehensive strategy of urban hazard mitigation aimed at the creation of resilient cities, able to withstand both types of threats. The paper reviews hazard mitigation practice, defines a resilient city, considers the relationship between resilience and terrorism, and discusses why resilience is important and how to apply its principles to physical and social elements of cities. Contending that current hazard mitigation policy, practice, and knowledge fail to deal with the unique aspects of cities under stress, the paper recommends a major resilient cities initiative, including expanded urban systems research, education and training, and increased collaboration among professional groups involved in city building and hazard mitigation.

What is a disaster resilient community?

At a seminar supported by the Thomas Jefferson Information Center, University of North Carolina’s Dr. Gavin Smith, executive director of the Center of Natural Hazards and Disasters, confirms, “The notion of trying to predict vulnerability is not a perfect science. We are going to see intensification of storms due to climate change.” But although no amount of careful planning can prevent damage brought about by more destructive natural calamities, building disaster-resilient communities should be the ideal.

“I always use ‘natural hazard’ instead of ‘disaster’ because disasters are a human construct,” Dr. Smith explains, “But at this time, climate change is a disaster. Many communities will not recover to pre-disaster conditions and we need to find a way to adapt to natural hazards.”