Earthquake and Fire Hazard Risk Perception: A Study on the Emerging Rangpur City of Bangladesh

Abstract

Rangpur city is one of the emerging cities in Bangladesh. In 2012, this city upgraded from municipality to city corporation. On the one hand, the city population started to increase; on the other hand, vulnerability to earthquake and fire hazards are increased due to rapid urbanization. Therefore, we investigate the risk perception of earthquake and fire hazards in Rangpur. The purpose of this study is fourfold: (i) to assess the risk perception of earthquake hazards and fire hazards at the household level; (ii) to investigate the influence of demographic and socio-economic factors on the risk perception of each hazard; (iii) to investigate the preparedness for earthquake and fire hazards; and (iv) to propose planning guidelines and policy interventions for the disaster resilience of the Rangpur city focusing on earthquake and fire hazards. We conducted a questionnaire survey with 558 participants and 9 semi-structured interviews in fifteen electoral wards in Rangpur city. Afterward, we analyzed the data in SPSS and ArcMap platforms. The study results show that socio-demographic indicators such as gender, household ownership type, and residential floor are likely to influence citizens’ risk perception. We also find that the spatial distribution of risk perception of both hazards is diversified at the electoral ward level. At the same time, we observe that the level of preparedness for both hazards is not satisfactory. Based on the study findings, we recommend a few planning guidelines and policy interventions for disaster resilience in Rangpur city.