Special Issue on SATREPS Myanmar Project Part 2: Development of a Comprehensive Disaster Resilience System and Collaboration Platform in Myanmar

Abstract

This special issue summarizes the main results of the latter half of a five-year project called SATREPS (Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development) supported by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). The project title is “Development of a Comprehensive Disaster Resilience System and Collaboration Platform in Myanmar” and it is the first SATREPS project adopted in Myanmar. Yangon Technological University (YTU) is a major counterpart organization and both national and local governmental organizations are working together as strategic partners. In the first half of the project, a database was constructed, composed of important data for assessing urban safety and disaster risk, such as the ground properties, and distribution of buildings, people, and traffic. Using the database, city development model and evaluation models for flood and earthquake risks were developed. In the latter half of the project, combining these two evaluation models, a system was developed for discussing future damage differences due to different urban plans and countermeasures. Furthermore, regarding flood, near-real-time flood inundation simulation system was developed. Related to earthquake disaster, a support system was developed for implementation of efficient countermeasures for both pre- and post-disaster. For infrastructure maintenance, performance monitoring and maintenance methods were proposed. Finally, in order to continue research activities and promote a continuous utilization of project results, a consortium scheme in which industry, government, and academia can work together has been created. We hope that our SATREPS project activities can contribute to proper urban development and improvement of disaster management issues not only in Myanmar but also in other Asian countries.