Exploring Disaster Risk Reduction in the Built

Environment
Malalgoda, C.
School of the Built Environment, University of Salford, UK
(email: C.I.Malalgoda@pgr.salford.ac.uk)
Amaratunga, D.
School of the Built Environment, University of Salford, UK
(email: R.D.G.Amaratunga@salford.ac.uk)
Pathirage, C.
School of the Built Environment, University of Salford, UK
(email: C.P.Pathirage@salford.ac.uk)

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.
Keywords: built environment, construction industry, disasters, disaster risk reduction

1. Background
Disasters cause a considerable amount of damage around the world every year (Ofori, 2001). There
has been an increase in the number of natural disasters over the past few years, and the impact in
terms of human, structural and economic losses has increased considerably. According to official
statistics issued by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) and the United
Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) in 2010, natural disasters have
caused the death of more than 780,000 people over the past ten years and destroyed a minimum of US
$ 960 billion worth of property and infrastructure.
It has been identified that the severity of the impact by natural disasters is directly linked to unplanned
urban development and ecosystems (ISDR, 2010). Haiti Earthquake which hit on 12 January 2010
resulted in the death of more than 200,000 people and made up to a million homeless which is an
extreme illustration of either unplanned or total lack of development activity required for disaster risk
reduction. According to Witte and Llana (2010), the powerful earthquake that struck Chile on 27
February 2010 was far stronger than the one that struck Haiti in January, but the damage was much
more contained, with a death toll of 214 which is a thousand times lower than that of Haitis. This
highlights the importance in implementing disaster risk reduction measures to prevent or mitigate the
impact of future disasters. Secretary-General (2006) too has identified the importance of incorporating
disaster risk reduction strategies in all development activities, policies, programmes and investments
for national and local governments.
The construction industry and built environment disciplines have a strong relationship with disaster
management. "Disaster management" can be defined as the range of activities designed to maintain
control over disaster and emergency situations and to provide a framework for helping those who are
at risk to avoid or recover from the impact of the disaster (Kelly, 1996). It is evident that in the case of
disasters, most of the material damages have been on engineering related facilities in the disaster areas
such as buildings, roads, bridges, water supply plants, communication and power services, harbours,
etc. Therefore clearing, salvaging, rehabilitation and reconstruction work fully or partly require
serious effort of the construction sector. Disaster management deals with situations that occur prior to,
during, and after the disaster and in all these phases the role-played by the construction sector is vital.
The main aim of this paper is to highlight the role of the construction industry and the built
environment disciplines in disaster risk reduction. The paper first focus on the various definitions of
disasters and explains the literature on disaster management. The next section is on disaster risk
reduction practises where various existing literature has been brought forward to explain the concept
of disaster risk reduction. The third section focuses on disaster risk reduction in the built environment
where the relationship of the disasters and the built environment has been highlighted initially and
then moved on to the role of the construction industry and the built environment disciplines in disaster
risk reduction.
This paper is based on review of existing literature in order to explore the disaster risk reduction in the
built environment. Therefore the academic literature, journal and conference papers and reports
produced by various institutions has been used for the review of existing literature.

2. Disasters and disaster management

There have been many attempts to define the term disaster. ISDR (2002) has defined disaster as a
serious disruption, of the functioning of a society, causing widespread human, material, or
environmental losses, which exceed the ability of the affected society to cope using only its own
resources. Parker (1992) identified a disaster as an unusual natural or man-made event, including an
event caused by failure of technological systems, which temporarily overwhelms the response
capacity of human communities, groups of individuals or natural environments and which causes
massive damage, economic loss, disruption, injury, and/or loss of life. Some authors have stressed
disaster as a social event. Neil (1986) has identified a disaster as a social event where the propensity is
dependent upon the interplay between humans and their use of the physical and social world.
According to Quarantelli & Perry (2005) disasters are overt manifestations of latent social
vulnerabilities, basically weaknesses in the social structures or social systems and that the disaster
stems from the social system and not necessarily the event itself (Quarantelli & Perry, 2005).
As per Shaluf et al (2003), there is no universally accepted definition for disasters and all the above
definitions differ upon the discipline in which they have been defined. Therefore having a proper
definition for a disaster is extremely important (Songer, 1999). Ginige et al (2009) has identified that
almost all the definitions of disasters have described a disaster as an event, which disturbs the social
structure or the environment, causing a significant loss and needs external assistance for recovery. As
can be seen from the above definitions the key words and phrases in relation to a disaster are sudden
or unexpected, crisis situation, serious disruption of the functioning of a society, widespread human,
material, or environmental losses and overwhelms the local capacity. It should also be noted that in
the case of a disaster there is no prior warning and as such the people are not adequately prepared.
This can result in the disruption of the entire system.
Disasters can be categorized by their origin, natural or man-made. Most of the disasters investigated
in the literature are natural disasters. Disasters may occur suddenly (a quick onset), or they may
develop over a period of time (a slow onset). Most of the disasters occur suddenly and perhaps
unexpectedly. According to Songer (1999), disasters, which are related to extreme weather conditions,
(floods, cyclones, tornadoes, blizzards, droughts) occur regularly and events related to extremes of the
earths geology (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions) occur less frequently, but results in major
consequences when they happen.
The origin and the causes of disasters can be varied but the consequences to human society are
frequently similar which includes, extensive loss of lives, particularly among vulnerable members of
the community; economic losses, hindering development goals; destruction of the built and natural
environment, increasing vulnerability; and widespread disruption to local institutions and livelihood,
disempowering the local community (Haigh and Amaratunga, 2010)
Disaster management can be defined as a collective term encompassing all aspects of planning for
and responding to disasters, including both pre- and post-disaster activities (CERO, 2004). It may
refer to the management of both the risks and consequences of disaster. Amarasinghe et al. (2006),
defined disaster management as an applied science, which seeks, by the systematic observation and

analysis of disasters to improve the measures to prevent, respond and recover from the effects and
consequences of a disaster.
Therefore disaster management can be identified as a cycle of inter related activities. According to
Warfield (2004), the Disaster management cycle illustrates the ongoing process by which
governments, businesses, and civil society plan for and reduce the impact of disasters, react during
and immediately following a disaster, and take steps to recover after a disaster has occurred.
Therefore it is important to take appropriate actions at all points in the disaster management cycle and
it will lead to greater preparedness, better warnings, reduced vulnerability or prevention of disasters
(Adams and Wisner, 2003).
According to Kawata (2001), disaster management can be divided into four parts Emergency response
and relief, Recovery and reconstruction, Mitigation and Preparedness, which are mainly, categorized
under two main headings - Crisis Management, and Risk Management. Disaster management cycle is
an open ended process or an ongoing attempt to limit the effects of the disasters (Amarasinghe et al,
2006). The Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of disaster emergency management as indicated by
Kawata (2001).

DISASTER
OCCURENCE

Emergency Response
and Relief

Preparedness

DISASTER
MANAGEMENT

Mitigation

RISK
MANAGEMENT

Recovery and
Reconstruction

CRISIS
MANAGEMENT

Figure 1: Disaster Management Cycle (Kawata, 2001)

The individual phases are often overlapped but it is crucial that they operate as a closed loop because
a major aim of hazard management is to learn from experience and feedback (Smith, 2001). Further,

Smith (2001) has classified disaster management under two major headings Pre Disaster Protection
and Post Disaster Recovery including sub elements of Risk Assessment, Mitigation, Preparedness,
Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction.
Pre disaster protection covers the range of activities, starting with risk assessment involving the
accumulation of data and the preparation of the loss estimates. This leads to the use of various
measures, such as the construction of engineering structures, insurance and land use planning aimed at
long-term cost effective mitigation of hazards. The preparedness phase, which reflects the degree to
which a community is alert immediately before the disaster strike, covers short term emergency
planning, hazard warning and evacuation procedures plus the stock piling of supplies.
Post disaster recovery covers several phases. First, after the initial rescue of survivors, it is concerned
with the distribution of basic supplies such as water, food, clothing, shelter, medical care, etc. to
ensure no further loss of life. This covers the first few hours or days after the disaster impact. Second
is the rehabilitation phase, which starts few weeks or months following the disaster and aims at
bringing back normality to the livelihood. Next is the reconstruction, which is a much longer-term
activity, and attempts to return to normality after severe devastation. Improved disaster planning
should occur at this stage.

3. Disaster risk reduction

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) includes the systematic development and application of policies,
strategies and practices to avoid (prevention) or limit (mitigation and preparedness) the adverse
effects of hazards (ISDR, 2010). The impact of disasters can be reduced or prevented with the proper
adoption of the disaster risk reduction strategies.
It has been identified that all individuals and communities are vulnerable to hazards in varying
degrees and all have intrinsic capacities to reduce the vulnerability (Ginige et al, 2009). According to
ISDR (2010), the vulnerability can be identified as the conditions determined by physical, social,
economic, and environmental factors or processes which increase the susceptibility of a community to
the impact of hazards. Vulnerability is also increasing due to rising poverty, a growing global
population, armed conflict and other underlying development issues (Hayles, 2010). Therefore it is
important to manage these vulnerabilities in order to reduce the impact of disasters.
As a result of growing vulnerability, the risk reduction has become one of the solutions to mitigate the
impact of disasters in advance and for speedy recovery after a disaster (Palliyaguru and Amaratunga,
2008). It has been identified that the consequences of a disaster is very less if it happen in a place
where people are well protected and the consequences are very high if it happen in a poorly protected
environment. As can be seen the disaster risk can be minimised by the elimination of the unsafe
conditions, in terms of people, property and infrastructure. (Pathirage et al, 2008). Furthermore,
population expansion, urbanisation, inappropriate developments and global climate change has
made the world increasingly unsafe and therefore it is essential to expand risk reduction measures
to prevent or reduce the impact of future disasters.

Therefore disaster risk reduction should entail measures to curb disaster losses by addressing hazards
and peoples vulnerability to them, throughout the disaster management cycle (Palliyaguru and
Amaratunga, 2008). Also, it is important to note that disaster risk reduction should be incorporated in
to all development strategies, policies, programmes and investments for national and local
governments (Secretary-General, 2006).
The World Conference on Disaster Reduction, held from 18 to 22 January 2005 in Kobe, Hyogo,
Japan, has adopted a Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and
Communities to Disasters. Hyogo Framework was adopted by 168 governments at the World
Conference for Disaster Reduction in January 2005. It seeks to achieve a substantial reduction of
disaster losses in lives and in the social, economic and environmental assets. It identifies five
priorities for action:

Ensure that disaster risk reduction is a national and a local priority with a strong institutional
basis for implementation.

Identify, assess and monitor disaster risks and enhance early warning.

Use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all
levels.

Reduce the underlying risk factors.

Strengthen disaster preparedness for effective response at all levels.

The disaster risk reduction measures can be categorised in several ways and one such method of
categorising disaster risk reduction is policy and planning measures, physical preventative measures,
physical coping and/or adaptive measures and community capacity building measures (DFID, 2005).
Policy and planning measures are implemented at the national or regional level and help to integrate
DRR into the policy framework. Physical preventive measures are designed to reduce the
vulnerability and exposure of infrastructure to natural hazards. Physical coping and adaptive measures
includes coping and adaptive infrastructure which are capable to withstand in case of a disaster.
Community capacity building measures are designed and implemented at the community level,
particularly the strengthening of communities to better respond and cope to a disaster event through
training and capacity building.
McEntire (2010) have identified four schools of thoughts for vulnerability reduction which in turn can
be used for disaster risk reduction. The physical science school is about living in safe areas and
focuses on exposure to hazards and risk reduction. The engineering school concentrates on the built
environment and ways to increase resistance through construction practices and methods of
fabrication. The structural school concentrates on traditional notions of vulnerability more than the
other three, and it stresses susceptibility based on socioeconomic factors and demographic
characteristics including race, ethnicity, gender, age, and other factors. The organizational school
stresses resilience or the effectiveness of response and recovery operations concentrating on the

importance of preparedness, leadership, management, and the ability to adapt, improvise, and be
creative.

4. Disaster risk reduction in the built environment

4.1 Disasters and the built environment
Much of the physical damage from disasters is to products of construction industry and therefore
construction industry and built environment professionals have a vital role in the rectification of
physical damages of disasters (Ofori, 2004). Construction practitioners can get involved in the future
development of mitigation measures including enhancing building codes, standards, new materials,
and construction technologies in hazard and risk areas by having partnerships with suppliers,
institutions and authorities (Chang et al, 2010). As stated, the construction industry and built
environment professionals have a vital role in all phases of the disaster management cycle including
reconstruction, planning, prevention and mitigation. Therefore it is important to identify the nature
and the composition of built environment before moving on to the contribution to the disaster risk
reduction.
The built environment is an abstract concept used in some of the literature to describe the products of
human building activity (Lawrence and Low, 1990). They have further elaborated the definition as
any physical alteration of the natural environment, from hearths to cities, through construction by
humans.
Bartuska (2007) has identified four main characteristics of built environment which are interrelated
with one another. The importance of the built environment in the context of a disaster can be best
illustrated by examining its above characteristics and can put forward the argument that those
responsible for built environment have a vital role to play in effective disaster planning. (Haigh and
Amaratunga, 2010).
First characteristic is, it is extensive and provides the context for all human endeavours. More
specifically, it is everything humanly created, modified, or constructed, humanly made, arranged, or
maintained. Haigh and Amaratunga (2010) further explained their argument stating that as built
environment provides the context for all human endeavours and as a result of disasters the elements of
the built environment can be damaged or destroyed affecting the ability of the society to function both
economically and socially.
Second, it is the creation of human minds and the result of human purposes; it is intended to serve
human needs, wants and values. According to Haigh and Amaratunga (2010) disasters will disrupt the
economic growth of the country and will further hinder the persons ability to emerge from poverty.
Third, much of it is created to help us deal with, and to protect us from, the overall environment, to
mediate or change this environment for our comfort and well-being. This proactive characteristic of
built environment will provide a means by which humanity can reduce or prevent the risks of disasters
Haigh and Amaratunga (2010).

Last, is that every component of the built environment is defined and shaped by context; each and all
of the individual elements contribute either positively or negatively to the overall quality of
environments. Haigh and Amaratunga (2010) argued that this restrict the ability to apply generic
mitigation and reconstruction solutions.
Traditionally, architecture, engineering and surveying has been identified as main built environment
disciplines (Muir and Rance, 1995). The built environment discipline have developed further in the
recent past and encompasses the professionals such as architects including landscape architects,
interior designers and town planners and engineers including service engineers, structural engineers
and electrical engineers and also the estate managers (Muir and Rance, 1995).
Disaster reduction involve in taking measures in advance, addressing risk reduction, involving
environmental protection, social equity and economic growth, the three cornerstones of sustainable
development, to ensure that development efforts do not increase the vulnerability to hazards (ISDR,
2002). According to Kibert (1999), the academics and professionals in planning, civil engineering,
economics, ecology, architecture, landscape architecture, construction and related fields are
responsible to discover ways of creating a more sustainable built environment. Therefore it is clear
that there is a high relationship between the disasters and the built environment disciplines.

4.2 Disaster risk reduction in the built environment

Construction industry and built environment disciplines have to play a major role in disaster risk
reduction. The role played by the construction sector in disaster risk reduction can be discussed under
two headings namely the role played at the Pre Disaster Protection Phase and the role played at the
Post Disaster Recovery Phase. The role played at each of these situations is discussed below in detail.
However it should be noted that both the phases are interrelated, overlapping and multi dimensional
(Haigh & Amaratunga, 2010; McEntire et al, 2002; Trim, 2004)
4.2.1 Pre disaster protection
The construction industry is not only a critical component of the nations economy, but also a
fundamental contributor in disaster management and mitigation (Chang, 2010). In the case of pre
disaster protection, the experts of the construction industry and built environment disciplines are
mainly required in the prevention and mitigation activities. These include design and construction of
structural projects for example sea walls, drainage systems and quality infrastructure, imposing
building regulations and codes, land use planning and zoning requirements, etc. The main
responsibility for above preventive and mitigation actions lies with engineering and planning
disciplines of the built environment. According to Sevin and Little (1998) the engineering community
has a valuable role in finding and promoting rational and balanced solutions for existing unbounded
threats. Mileti (1999) too identified the importance of improved engineering for buildings and
infrastructure in order to minimise the adverse impacts of disasters.
Palliyaguru and Amaratunga (2008) highlighted the importance of quality infrastructure in disaster
risk reduction and identified that the quality infrastructure can reduce the impacts of disaster risks.

Oh et al, (2010) too supported the argument by stating that with proper planning, the impact of natural
disasters can be reduced and stated that it is necessary to identify the critical infrastructure that are
vulnerable to natural disasters and the necessity of taking appropriate rehabilitation measures. Burby
and Dalton (1994) argued that structural protection and building codes are conventional approaches to
disaster mitigation. Mileti (1999) identified the importance of better land use planning to mitigate the
impacts of disaster risks. Burby and Dalton (1994) too identified that land use planning can serve as a
vehicle for limiting development of areas at risk from natural hazards and can produce tangible
community benefits. These will in turn support the argument that built environment disciplines have a
vital role in risk reduction in the pre disaster protection phase of the disaster management cycle in
relation to rehabilitation and upgrading infrastructure, proper land use planning, designing of
buildings and other structures which can withstand in case of a disaster by utilizing proper building
codes etc. This includes, proper planning, designing, construction and maintenance of infrastructure
and buildings in the disaster prone areas.
According to ISDR (2010) the local governments can play a major role in urban disaster risk
reduction. They are in charge of critical development functions to reduce disaster risks, such as land
use planning, urban development planning, public works, construction safety and licensing, social
services and responding to the need of the poor and the under privileged and implementation and
strengthening of the decentralization process (ISDR, 2010). It is understood that local government
should take advice and consultancy from the built environment professionals in order to perform the
above activities efficiently and effectively. In addition ISDR (2010) identified the following disaster
risk reducing measures where local governments can incorporate professionals of built environment
disciplines. This includes, invest and maintain risk reducing infrastructure such as flood drainage;
apply risk compliant building regulations and land use planning norms appropriate to the needs and
possibilities of low income citizens; ensure the safety of all schools and health facilities and upgrade
as necessary; provide ecosystems and natural buffers to mitigate floods, storm surges and other
hazards; adapt to climate change building on risk reduction practices. The built environment
professionals have vital role in all the above activities including planning, designing, construction and
project management and consultancy services.
4.2.2 Post disaster recovery
The post disaster recovery involves two phases, Emergency Response and Relief, and Recovery and
Reconstruction. In both these phases the construction industry plays a major role mainly in terms of
reconstruction work.
In the Emergency Response and Relief phase the role of construction industry is not that significant
(Keraminiyage et al, 2007). However construction industry including built environment professionals
have a role in providing water and sanitation to victims, construction of temporary shelters and in
addition, the damaged basic infrastructure such as roads, telephone lines, bridges, electricity supply
etc. should be restored immediately. All these show that construction industry plays a major role in
the above situations.

The Recovery and Reconstruction phase is the most important phase for the construction industry. All
construction professionals should get together with the construction organizations to cope up with the
challenges of the reconstruction work. Massive reconstruction works are undertaken during this phase
in sectors such as housing, health, education and upgrading national infrastructure etc. According to
Keraminiyage et al (2007), the construction industry has a much broader role to anticipate, assess,
prevent, prepare, respond and recover from disruptive challenges in the case of post disaster recovery.
All reconstruction work should be well planned in order to avoid future vulnerabilities to disasters and
in this regard the efforts of the construction professionals are very important in decision-making and
implementation of reconstruction work.
Post disaster recovery stage is traditionally associated with construction and property sector (Haigh &
Amaratunga, 2010). The authors have further highlighted, the requirement of the capacity for
reconstruction including skilled resources expertise and project management expertise at the aftermath
of a disaster. Therefore it is well understood that the construction industry and built environment
professionals including, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, town and country planners, land
surveyors and construction and project managers have an important role to play in the recovery stage.
According to Chang et al (2010), the recent disaster literature has highlighted the role of the
construction industry in the disaster-stricken areas and their inadequate engagement in the mitigation
of such events. They further highlighted that the construction industry in China has not been
sufficiently involved in disaster planning and management. According to Ofori (2004), it is necessary
to provide the construction industries in developing countries with the requisite capacity and
capability to enable them to plan, design and build constructed items to reduce their vulnerability to
disasters, and to respond effectively to disasters to save and protect lives, rehabilitate vital
infrastructure, and reinstate economic activities. Ofori (2004) further mentioned that systematic
efforts should be made to develop the construction industry. This includes:

Professionals should be equipped with the knowledge and skills required to undertake
appropriate designs and construction

A programme of material development should be instituted in each region to find high

performing (disaster resistant) materials

Measures must be placed towards the technological development of the industry to enable it
to handle various projects, which will be required to provide protection against disasters

The companies in the construction industry should be provided with the encouragement and
incentives to progressively upgrade their operations and strengthen their organizations

The professional institutions and trade associations should be strengthened.

Conducive operating environment, which supports the continuous development of the

construction companies to enhance their disaster prevention and management capabilities

5. Conclusions
Due to ever increasing adverse impacts of disasters, the disaster risk reduction has become a very
demanding area in the recent past. Disaster risk reduction measures can be employed in both pre
disaster planning and post disaster recovery stages of the disaster management cycles. The built
environment disciplines together with the construction industry have a vital role in all phases of the
disaster management cycles in relation to disaster risk reduction. They can involve in disaster risk
reduction in numerous ways, including planning, designing, engineering, construction and
maintenance of the built environment. Furthermore, it is understood that built environment disciplines
such as architecture, engineering and town and country planning has a more important role in
adapting disaster risk reduction methods in to their designs and construction work. Some of these
measures includes, proper land use planning, incorporating building codes and regulations, proper
designing and construction of quality infrastructure including structural work such as sea walls,
drainage systems etc., use of quality construction materials and improving the quality of construction.
Likewise, there is a clear relationship between disaster risk reduction and the construction industry
including built environment disciplines. Several authors have identified the inadequate engagement of
the construction industry and the built environment disciplines in incorporating disaster mitigation
and risk reduction in actual context in the disaster stricken areas (Chang, 2010). The authors further
argued that therefore there is a requirement within the construction industry to design programs to
heighten the awareness of the industry players in order for them to actively engage in disaster
management, planning, and mitigation activities. Therefore this research can be further extended to
identify the gap between theoretical and actual contribution of construction sector in disaster risk
reduction.

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