Exploring disaster risk reduction in the built environment

Malalgoda, CI; Amaratunga, RDG; Pathirage, CP

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review the role of construction industry and built environment
disciplines in disaster risk reduction. There is much evidence to show that every year natural disasters
cause a substantial amount of damage throughout the whole world. This brought forward the
importance of disaster risk reduction to prevent or mitigate the adverse impacts of disasters. The
construction industry has a strong relationship with disaster management and therefore there is a high
need in identifying how the construction industry and its related disciplines can contribute towards
disaster risk reduction. Therefore the paper focuses on the role of the construction industry and the
built environment professionals in disaster risk reduction. The literature review method has been used
to address this emerging topic and therefore the paper is based on the academic literature, journal and
conference papers and reports produced by various institutions.The review of literature reveals that
there is a clear relationship between disaster risk reduction and the built environment disciplines. It
has been identified that the construction industry and built environment professionals have a
significant role to play in disaster risk reduction in both pre and post disaster situations. The risk
reduction strategies can be incorporated in to all phases of construction projects, including planning,
designing, construction and maintenance in addition to town and country planning and policy making.

Citation

Malalgoda, C., Amaratunga, R., & Pathirage, C. Exploring disaster risk reduction in the built environment. 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 15, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Keywords: Built environment, construction industry, disasters, disaster risk reduction
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference