A survey on implementing local policies to enhance local communities’ resilience in natural disasters

9,655 people were killed in natural disasters in 2012. However, this number is lower than the annual average of 107,000 from 2002 to 2011. For the same period, about 268 million people in average are victims of natural disasters annually. Among the top countries in terms of disaster mortality in 2012, six countries are classified as low-income or lower-middle income economies. As cities grow, the population concentration intensifies the losses in high density areas. Figuring out the strategies to minimize the risk and its impacts which lead to more resilient cities is a key role in managing the risk in natural disasters. As disasters have their greatest impact at the local level, the local governments are the most effective party in the risk reduction of their community. A set of essential actions should be considered by local governments to reduce the risk e.g. organization and cooperation, budget allocation, risk assessment and etc. Some case studies show the importance of cooperation of the local people and administrative organizations in the risk reduction activities. However, involving the local administration effectively requires regulating proper policies.On the other hand, in natural disasters e.g. earthquakes the local community is the most vulnerable victim as being exposed by building collapses. Fatality in such disasters are highly related to the level of per capita income while, un-professional construction techniques in poorly educated communities rises the disaster risks of failures. Achieving to a set of local policies and investment budgets for improving the strength of buildings need to be addressed and supported by local government policies.This paper debates on the implementable policies for risk reductions and making communities more resilient in local level for three different risk stages; pre-disaster, on-disaster, and post-disaster.

کلیدواژه ها:

risk reduction ، resilient cities ، natural disasters ، local government ، local policies