With this year’s terrible wildfire season finally coming to an end, and floods and earthquakes still regularly making the news, urban areas need to consider what actions they can take to minimize the risk of future disasters and to protect residents, whether via preventative measures or development of emergency procedures, according to an article in ArchDaily.
For flooding and storms, cities can look toward incorporating marshes, waterscapes, and permeable pavements to help absorb surges in water, and allow it to return to natural aquifers, rather than being pumped away. Coastal cities can also look into the use of natural buffers like wetlands and dunes.
For wildfires, cities can increase the use of fire-resistant plants, and updating spatial planning and building codes to minimize areas containing fire fuel. Planners can also turn to new tools and models, which specialize in the prediction of fires, particularly in peatlands.
In anticipation of earthquakes, cities can turn to technologies that allow for retrofitting with steel frames, or the use of natural materials, like bamboo, that combine strength and flexibility. For larger scale projects and critical infrastructure, governments can also enforce the use of seismic isolation techniques which isolate buildings from the surrounding earth, reducing the exposure to the effects of the quakes.
Source:
https://www.archdaily.com/1008185/how-can-cities-create-resilience-in-the-face-of-natural-disasters
