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Section 6: Urban geohazards in developing countries |
University College Chester, Parkgate Road, Chester CHI 4BJ, UK
In a variety of environmental and socio-economic circumstances, the medium to long-term effectiveness and sustainability of traditional approaches to managing natural hazards and their impact on urban areas are increasingly being questioned. This is reflected in two trends of particular relevance to the geosciences and engineering, namely (a) changing attitudes towards the use of ‘hard’ engineering to manage environmental processes; and (b) calls for greater involvement and responsibility on the part of the community and individual in hazard mitigation. The latter, in particular, is increasingly seen as crucial to reducing vulnerability to loss in both developed and developing societies. It requires a conceptual change in how the issue of human vulnerability is viewed and portrayed, and greater public accessibility to information about environmental processes, the potential dangers they pose and the ways in which these can be mitigated. In this respect the geoscientist has a vital role to play in providing the non-specialist with essential earth science information, in formats that are environmentally, economically and culturally appropriate.
