Coping with extreme disaster risk through preventive planning for resettlement

Abstract

Global climate change has intensified the frequency and intensity of extreme disaster events. Among the four phases of disaster management, the recovery phase may be particularly complicated in terms of its depth and breadth, and this phase commonly takes years after serious disasters. In particular, disaster resettlement needs to not only provide affordable housing and sufficient infrastructure but also recover social capital.According to a World Bank report, in 2005, 73% of the area in Taiwan was exposed to more than three kinds of disaster risks. The relatively severe hazards and exposure reveal the necessity and urgency of searching for preventive resettlement sites for high-risk communities. Thus, this paper selects one of the high-risk communities located in urbanized areas in northern Taiwan to explore potential preventive resettlement sites based on four aspects, namely, land use features, socioeconomic features, industrial development, and life accessibility, via suitability analysis and a questionnaire survey. Although local preferences may vary, the comparative analysis results show that the factors applied in the suitability analysis could partially satisfy the demands. In addition, some factors could be revised in the questionnaire survey to provide better-fitting potential sites for the local residents. Overall, it is sensible to devise preventive resettlement plans based on the four aspects in advance and to make further revisions according to local preferences.