Chapter 3 Environmental risk reduction in urban areas

Abstract

Decision-making is an important step in the risk management process. Decisions often need to be based on incomplete information, and have to carry an element of sound judgment with them. Decision-making is usually a prerogative of government agencies in change of development and disaster management. But it also needs to be included in participatory processes involving citizens – which is far more than mere consent of the public to decisions taken by others.

The most critical components of decision-making are participation and consensus building. In fact these two elements are often in conflict with each other. In the spirit of participation, a wider consultation is needed, and when participation widens, it becomes difficult to arrive at consensus. Simple tools can be very useful in evolving consensus within the planning groups, civil society actors and the government.

The content of this chapter focuses specifically on environmental risk and its potential to exacerbate the negative impacts of a disaster event. It also looks more closely on the built environment and the role that effective decision-making can play in not only mitigating urban risk, but also to preserve/conserve the local environment. They key message of the cyclical interrelationships between good environmental management and reducing disaster risk, lies at the core of this paper.

Citation

Srinivas, H. (2009), "Chapter 3 Environmental risk reduction in urban areas", Shaw, R., Srinivas, H. and Sharma, A. (Ed.) Urban Risk Reduction: An Asian Perspective (Community, Environment and Disaster Risk Management, Vol. 1), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 37-54. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-7262(2009)0000001007