How do households respond to coastal hazards? A framework for accommodating strategies using the example of Semarang Bay, Indonesia

Abstract

Responding to coastal hazards is a daily challenge for populations in low-lying coastal areas all over the globe. How local communities develop accommodating strategies for these hazards remains largely under-emphasized. Filling this knowledge gap is vital to connect the big picture science of sea-level rise with the adaptation needs and capabilities of affected communities. This paper contributes new understanding by presenting the results of original, mixed-methods research (a household survey and focus group discussions) that documents the accommodating strategies of communities and households in the Semarang Bay on northern Java. We find that participatory capacity and self-organization are key factors in enabling communities to live in unstable environments. Coastal hazards have become a normal element of live and are not perceived as severe risks. Rather than retreating or gaining permanent protection, people found ways to accommodate to and hence live with floods. This result adds an important dimension to contemporary theorization of responding to coastal hazards. Although the IPCC (2014) acknowledges ‘accommodating’ as one form of adaptation alongside ‘retreating’ and ‘protecting’, it tends to be overlooked as temporary and insubstantial compared with the latter responses. This research finds that accommodating strategies, such as informal loans, are effective means for people to maintain their livelihoods in hazard-affected coastal areas on a more substantial basis than recognized in much of the literature. We therefore argue that accommodating should be distinguished from both long-term adaptation and short-term coping and deserves elevated consideration by researchers examining hazard response modes among coastal populations.