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This chapter discusses two California policies that unintentionally promote development in fire-prone areas. First is the state's Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan, a state-regulated statutory insurance industry association that provides basic insurance to property owners who are unable to obtain it in the private market. FAIR Plan was intended to be an insurer of last resort for rare cases when the private sector was unwilling to provide coverage. A functioning insurance market should discourage development in hazardous lands by charging appropriately priced premiums or denying coverage where hazards are extreme. The FAIR Plan short circuits this mechanism and subsidizes development in highly hazardous environments by forcing insurers to provide coverage at a price that is far below what the market would charge. While FAIR Plan was envisioned to fill a need for a small number of homeowners who could not otherwise obtain insurance, instead enrollment in this program has skyrocketed. The second policy relates to how the state maps very high fire hazard severity zones (VHFHSZ), statutory zones designed for designating hazardous lands in urban and suburban jurisdictions with their own fire departments. Numerous legal loopholes have given communities wide leeway to keep land within their boundaries from being designated as VHFHSZ for disclosure and fire zoning purposes, even if those lands are objectively hazardous according to the state's criteria. Of most concern with these loopholes is the fact that California's natural hazard real estate transfer disclosure standard relies on these maps, meaning that homebuyers in communities that use these loopholes may be led into a false sense of security when purchasing a home because the statutory Natural Hazard Disclosure form presented prior to transfer asserts that no known wildfire hazard exists.

This paper aims to investigate residents’ perceptions of risk towards owning and living in residential property in Christchurch subsequent to the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes to identify how these perceptions impact on the price residents are willing to pay for affected property. Such market behaviour can motivate homeowners to adopt risk mitigation measures.

An online survey was developed and the Web link distributed to Canterbury residents via the media. This method of distribution was adopted, as a postal survey was not possible due to the number of homes that had been destroyed by the earthquakes and the highly transient nature of the community as a result.

The results indicate that with the recent earthquake experience, residents are demonstrating risk mitigation behaviours through an aversion to investing in properties affected by, or with a risk of, liquefaction. Specifically, the majority of respondents had strong reservations about buying Technical Category 3 property, and would be prepared to pay 20 per cent (or > 20 per cent) less for it, indicating some stigma towards affected property. Further, most respondents would now prefer the construction of their home to be of a type that fared better in the earthquakes: lightweight, single-storey, with a concrete slab foundation. These housing preferences will likely drive the market towards the adoption of risk mitigation measures in the retrofit of existing homes as well as in the design and construction of new homes.

Due to the number of homes that had been destroyed by the earthquakes and the highly transient nature of the community as a result, probability sampling was not possible. This, together with the low response rate, means that the respondents surveyed may not be representative of the Christchurch population.

The outcomes of this research will be of interest not only to homeowners wanting to know how their home’s value has been impacted by market perceptions towards earthquake and liquefaction damage, particularly in the worst-affected areas, but also the rating valuers tasked with assessing property values for rating purposes. Property developers and builders involved in the repair of existing homes and construction of new homes will also want to know current market preferences. Government bodies will find the results informative of how the media has, and can be used, to motivate market behaviour towards risk mitigation, particularly in regard to “material risk” (as described in Solberg et al., 2010), that is risk from a scientific and technical viewpoint of probability of future risk, and as related to what has become known about these risks in terms of building structure, height, age, soil type/land categories and flood zones. Further, the results provide a gauge of how the community perceived the handling of the recovery process, so that the weaknesses highlighted can be addressed, which will help restore community trust.

This study fills a research void on the impact of residents’ perceptions of risk towards home ownership in a city impacted by significant earthquakes and resulting liquefaction.

The purpose of the paper is to provide a review of the dangers that termites pose for houses in Australia and to highlight the inadequacies in the existing research for determining the extent, nature and costs of termite attacks on houses.

The classification of Australian termites is discussed and those classifications most problematic for houses are identified. The reasons why subterranean termites pose a significant risk to houses are explained. An overview of seven noteworthy investigations into termite risks to houses is provided, the findings of the investigations are discussed, and conclusions about the adequacy of the investigations are presented.

Much is known about the distribution and habits of the species of termites that are problematic for houses in Australia, but very little research has been conducted into establishing the extent, nature, and costs of termite attacks on houses. Also, the existing research is ad hoc, piecemeal and inadequate for establishing the risks to houses from termite attack.

To date there has been limited research into termite risks to houses in Australia. In making a contribution to this area, this paper examines issues related to termite risks in various states and territories.

Cambodia has been undergoing a seemingly continual metamorphosis over the last 200 years. During that time, the government has changed from the traditional Khmer feudal system; through periods of colonialism; independent self‐rule under a monarchy; republicanism; agrarian socialism during the horrendous Khmer Rouge period; socialism under the Vietnamese‐controlled government; and finally an evolving democratically‐elected government. Along with the changes in overall governance of Cambodia, there have been major changes in the control of its resources, particularly land. Cambodia’s economy has also undergone periods of radical transition, none more so than since 1993 with the surge towards free market operations. The major challenge for Cambodia is to establish the rule of law and create the effective property rights which are a prerequisite for a market economy. There now exists an opportunity for the Cambodian people to refine their legal system and other major institutions. Such changes cannot be made in isolation from the lessons and the legacies of the country’s history. Summarizes the history of land law and its related institutions in Cambodia and examines the implications of this history for the current state of land laws in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Risk assessments are the very basis on which planning and implementation are carried out. In the context of urban risk management, the assessment processes are complex to understand as they involve multi-sectoral parameters. Many of the issues involved are of technical nature, but this also requires focus on the principles behind the assessment process including participatory assessment tools.

Action planning is a participatory, short-term, visible, output-oriented process that enables urban community groups to plan the development of risk reduction actions in their locality and to lead the implementation of the action plans.

There are three kinds of actions that emerge from an action planning process: (i) those that can be implemented by the community groups themselves, (ii) those that need some external help for implementation, and (iii) those that can only be implemented by specialized agencies from outside the community. Implementation management processes thus need to look at how internal systems can be established to operationalize self-action, and to coordinate external interventions.

Urban built-up has been increasing exponentially in the world. Urban population growth and migration are depleting the land resources and creating thermal discomfort. Cities all around the world are facing urban heat island effects and increased temperatures. This study aims to map land cover and formulate local climate zones for enhancing urban resilience against disaster and climate risks.

This study uses exploratory research to identify local climate zones for Lahore, Pakistan. Landsat 8 imagery was used to develop a land use land cover map. For mapping local climate zones, the standard World Urban and Access Portal Tool procedure was used.

Results have revealed that Lahore has grown exponentially. Compact low rise and open low rise were the two most common local climate zones prevalent in the city. In contrast, the outer regions of the city consisted of LCZ D (low plants) and LCZ F (bare soil).

This study highlights the need to consider local climate zones in future development plans and policies for ensuring sustainable, resilient and climate-friendly cities.

Local climate zone studies are missing in Pakistan. This study has empirically analyzed the ground situation of local climate zones for Lahore metropolitan city. This study will provide baseline support for future studies on urban heat island and climate change adaptation planning.

The purpose of this paper is to show that some of the critical questions that top executives from electronics companies ask are not unique to their industry and, in fact, are the same ones that confront executives across a variety of industries and virtually all company sizes. Questions that address issues of product complexity and the breadth of product offerings, how to respond to competitive forces, and how to meet the challenges that come from shortened product lifecycles and shrinking the time it takes for products to ultimately reach the marketplace are all relevant across multiple industries. Still, the electronics industry is one that is experiencing an especially unprecedented degree of change spurred by the increasing complexity of end products, higher competitive intensity, and shorter time to commoditization.

The article provides the methodology and tool set needed to develop and assess a product portfolio map, determine changes needed to marketing and sales focus as well as future actions to take in order to sustain higher profitability and return on investments. It includes: definition of the key dimensions and characteristics of the six key zones for product, sales, and marketing; summary of product, marketing and sales focus by zone; key challenges and actions that an organization can undertake for each zone; and methodology to apply the framework and develop an actionable transformation roadmap. This answers key questions such as: Does the current coverage align with existing core competencies? Which zone has the most profitable products? If playing in every zone which business should be divested? If there is heavy emphasis on one zone what does it mean for M&A strategy? Where do the top 100 customers map in the framework? What looking at product and technology roadmap going forward, which zones do we start entering?

This article provides a framework that enables businesses to ascertain their current state and identify actions appropriate to achieve a desired future state. It provides insights that lead to an actionable transformation plan.

Most companies in the electronics industry are executing multiple strategies based on acquisitions, sales transformations, new product introductions, and cost cutting measures to deal with the situation. However, the success rate of these strategies leaves significant room for improvement at many companies. So what is the answer? As is often the case when many variables need to be considered simultaneously and the competitive environment is complex such as this, it is important to establish a structured way to approach the challenges at hand. In this case, the key elements to consider are the customer experience, the product portfolios, and sales and marketing competencies. Achieving the right level of interaction and focus among these elements is critical to achieving success. This article provides a new and insightful framework to enable a structured analysis of the multi‐variable system.

The main objective of the study is to identify the vulnerable areas for river‐line and flash flood hazard and its mitigation through GIS Database Management System (DBMS) of geo‐hydrometeorological parameters. The Dabka watershed constitutes a part of the Kosi Basin in the Lesser Himalaya, India in district Nainital has been selected for the case illustration.

The Dabka DBMS is constituted of three GIS (Geographic Information System) modules, i.e. geo‐informatics (consists of geomorphology, soils, geology and land use pattern, slope analysis, drainage density and drainage frequency), weather informatics (consists of daily, monthly and annual weather data about temperature, rainfall, humidity and evaporation) and hydro‐informatics (consist of runoff, sediment delivery, and denudation). The geo‐informatics and weather informatics modules carried out by comprehensive field work and GIS mapping than both modules used to carry out hydro‐informatics module. Through the integration and superimposing of spatial data and attribute data with their GIS layers of all these modules prepared Flood Hazard Index (FHI) to identify the level of vulnerability for flood hazards and their socio‐economic and environmental risks.

The results suggest that geo‐environmentally most stressed areas of barren land (i.e. river‐beds, flood plain, denudational hills, sites of debris flow, gullies, landslide prone areas etc.) have extreme vulnerability for flood hazard due to high rate of runoff, sediment load delivery and denudation during rainy season (i.e. respectively 84.56 l/s/km², 78.60 t/km² and 1.21 mm/year) whereas in geo‐environmentally least stressed dense forest areas (i.e. oak, pine and mixed forests) have low vulnerability due to low rate of stream runoff, sediment load delivery and denudation (i.e. respectively 20.67 l/s/km², 19.50 t/km² and 0.20 mm/year). The other frazzled geo‐environment which also found high vulnerable for flood hazard and their risks is agricultural land areas due to high rate of stream runoff, sediment load delivery and denudation rates (i.e. respectively 53.15 l/s/km², 90.00 t/km² and 0.92 mm/year).

For hydro‐informatics module it is quite difficult to monitor water and sediment discharge data from each and every stream of the Himalayan terrain due the steep and rugged topography. It requires strategic planning and trained man power as well as sufficient funds; therefore representative micro‐watershed approach of varied ecosystem followed for a three years (2006‐2008) period.

The study will have great scientific relevance in the field of river‐line flood and flash flood hazard and its socio‐economic and environmental risks prevention and management in Himalaya and other mountainous terrain of the world.

This study generated primary data on hydro‐informatics and weather informatics to integrate with geo‐informatics data for flood hazard assessment and mitigation as constitutes a part of multidisciplinary project, Department of Science and Technology (D.S.T.) Government of India.

Corporate real estate management (CREM) is the most important minor matter in nonproperty companies. Therefore CREM must commit to and deliver significant financial results in order to improve core business competitiveness. Ultimate valid criteria for success are contributions to earnings per share (EPS) and free cash flow. Pragmatic ‘on‐site’ solutions are required by business units within their planning horizons, thus speed is key to success. This Aventis Real Estate case study presents an example of how a ‘non‐core activity’ has become an ‘other‐core activity’ within a globally operating pharmaceutical company. This paper demonstrates how measurable results can be repetitively delivered with a lean team and optimised financial deployment.

Despite the current fast track urban development process that characterizes the city of Doha, very few studies have addressed several important growth aspects, including the examination of the way in which its inhabitants comprehend and react to its built environment and the resulting spatial experience. This paper examines inhabitants' spatial experience in the city by applying cognitive mapping procedures coupled with an attitude survey. 108 responses were received, analyzed, and classified in three categories a) living, working, and visiting patterns; b) comprehension of home range, home zone, and movement; and c) ethnic affiliation: Qataris and other Arab expatriates. The findings contribute to an in-depth understanding of the inhabitants' spatial experience. The study concludes with an emphasis that by establishing knowledge generated from research findings that are derived from direct experience of inhabitants including movement patterns and the rhythm of geographical locations within the city, the various aspects of how certain areas work within the urban structure of the city can be elucidated.