Critical Analysis of Tsunami Preparedness at Local Level for Sustainable Urban Planning in Sri Lanka

Abstract

AbstractCoastal cities often suffer from extreme natural hazards such as sea level rise, coastal storms, and heavy rains. Amidst them, tsunami being a hazard with a very low frequency still claims to be the most detrimental disaster faced by coastal communities due to its unpredictable nature and the high impact caused by a single hit. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami affected 15 countries alarming the nations to revamp their urban planning frameworks to be more inclusive of preparedness for Tsunamis. Sri Lanka being an island greatly devastated by 2004 IOT, with the records for around 35,399 fatalities, 114,069 damaged or destroyed houses and 480,000 human displacements was undeniably compelled to build back better from the lessons learnt. Moreover, tsunami accounts for the greatest percentage, nearly 0.2% from its population of loss of lives and the greatest economic damage from a disaster in Sri Lanka in the recent history. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka’s urban planning guidelines lack the preparedness measures that need implementing in tsunami prone cities. This further highlights the necessity of sustainable and resilient urban planning. This study synthesizes and critically analyzes the current level of integration of strategies for tsunami preparedness in Sri Lankan urban planning frameworks and related policies. A comprehensive review was carried out on urban planning policy frameworks and guidelines in Sri Lanka where the inclusion of tsunami preparedness measures under a set of pre-identified parameters was investigated. A critical analysis was then followed by means of comparing the existing local frameworks with globally practiced guidelines under the same categories which enabled identifying the gaps in Sri Lankan coastal city planning. In this context, this paper highlights the current state of the art of existing urban planning policy frameworks and guidelines in Sri Lanka which highlights that it does not adequately include the tsunami preparedness measures to better prepare the country for similar future hazards.KeywordsSustainable urban planningTsunami preparedness measuresSri Lankan policy frameworks and guidelinesResilient cities