From Disaster Risk Reduction to resilience: A new urban agenda for the 21st century
The primary purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how strategic human settlements, planning development and management can contribute to disaster risk reduction and resilience building. Particular attention is given to how the post-2015 disaster risk reduction framework can address the new challenges brought by a rapidly urbanizing world against a rise in the incidence and complexisty of extreme events and crises affecting human settlements around the world.
The paper makes the following recommedations for how the post-2015 disaster risk reduction framework can address the gaps in the current HFA:
- recognize the role of spatial, urban, and land-use planning and design as an instrument for limiting risk generation and contributing to equitable development;
- encourage inter-disciplinary contributions toward the development of safe and resilient infrastructure, including from experts in international design standards, covering aspects such as flood protection and earthquake resistance;
- strengthen urban risk assessments, particularly in relation to the development and enforcement of building codes and regulations;
- apply a holistic, systems-model approach to disaster risk reduction and reduction of mortality rates; and
- develop financial instruments and mechanisms to ensure that adequate budgets are available to tackle disaster risk, including at the local level.
This document is a background paper of the 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction.