| Author | Khailani, Dzul Khaimi Bin |
| Call Number | AIT Diss no.UE-12-05 |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Mainstreaming climate change related scenarios in urban development planning is a
significant knowledge gap in existing literature. The main research question in this study
is; how local development plans are utilized and should be utilized by local authorities to
improve resilience of urban areas against climate change induced disasters. Accordingly,
the overall objective of this study is to develop an understanding on civil society’s
perceptions and needs to enhance the resilience of urban areas, and the gaps in responses
by urban authorities in general and urban planners in particular, in order to comprehend
the appropriate mechanism to mainstream disaster resilient attributes in local
development plans for the adaptation to climate change.
The study progressed through the following method to achieve the overall objectives.
Firstly parameters of vulnerability and resilience to disasters were understood through
face to face interview in eight settlement areas mostly affected by floods in Shah Alam
city.. The questionnaire was distributed among 250 local residents randomly to identify
contributing factors to the vulnerability of their settlements and the existing qualities of
resilience against hazards. Secondly, the results of the survey was used to shortlist the
most important factors of vulnerability and resilience, and used to prepare a structured
questionnaire to interview policy makers and professional urban planners in Shah Alam
city. Concurrently, the content analysis method was used to determine how listed factors
feature and functions in the local development plan. Thirdly, the principal components
analysis technique was used to reduce the number of parameters and indicators identified
in the first two steps in order to determine the disaster resilient strategies that need to be
mainstreamed in the local development plan of Shah Alam. Lastly, the adaptation
efficiency index was constructed to establish a relationship between disaster resilient
groups and the improvement of disaster resilient strategies attributes for mainstreaming
and adaptation in local plan.
The analysis leads to revealed three significant findings. Firstly, the disaster resilient
attributes in the study were found to be in line with the limited references. Secondly, the
people’s sensitivity to hazards and perception on probable hazard risks impacts and the
adaptive capacity were revealed as important attribute factors that explain the current
status of their disaster resilience but they are inherent attributes of resilience was not
induced by planning and development intervention by authorities. This is confirmed by
the third finding from the content analysis that the supply side (i.e. planning intervention)
has not been effective in catering the demand side (i.e. needs of the civil societies).
Conventional planning intervention of land use control was found to be the only measure
pertaining to disaster preparedness in the local level development planning. Integrating
disaster resilient strategies in local plans and improving understanding for all urban
stakeholders in Shah Alam seems logical policy implication of these findings. The study
justifies the need of mainstreaming disaster resilience strategies in local development
planning as a response to the contemporary challenges of creating safer and resilient
cities. The study also make a knowledge contribution to the fields of urban planning and
disaster preparedness by bridging the gap between the rational planning process
commonly practices by the professional planners and the community based disaster
management process practiced by other development practitioners. |
| Year | 2012 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Chairperson(s) | Perera, Ranjith ; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Vilas Nitivattananon;Lal Samarakoon; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Public Service Department of Malaysia; |