Enhancing capacities for disaster mitigation and reconstruction in the built environment: a case study
from Sri Lanka

Ginige, K; Amaratunga, RDG; Haigh, RP

Abstract

Throughout the recent decades, natural and man-made disasters have demonstrated the fragility of the
built environment and its vulnerability to hazards. The destruction of the built environment caused by
disasters impedes the regular functioning of the society while hindering all the other activities due to
its strong linkages with other sectors. This emphasises the need of a disaster resilient built
environment. Capacity enhancement within different sectors in the society such as governments,
institutions and communities, in relation to the built environment enables to identify constraints and
to plan and manage construction activities of the built environment effectively, efficiently and
sustainably. Identifying capacity gaps in the context of disaster mitigation and reconstruction in the
built environment is vital to identify any required capacity enhancement. In this context, this paper
discusses such capacity gaps in Sri Lanka through a literature review. Sri Lanka is commonly prone
to natural hazards like floods, cyclones, landslides, and droughts and has experienced low-frequency
but high impact disasters also such as the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. The paper identifies the
capacity gaps in different sectors in the country such as national and local governments, non state
actors and the private sector, local communities, policy and regulatory environment and human
resource development in relation to disaster mitigation and reconstruction in the built environment.
Problems in the regulatory structure, deficiencies in necessary laws and regulations including
problems in their implementation, and lack of required resources and skills have been identified as the
major capacity gaps in the paper.

Citation

from Sri Lanka. Presented at CIB 2010, University of Salford

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: CIB 2010
• Conference Location: University of Salford
• End Date: May 13, 2010
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Sep 17, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 17, 2010
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference