As in many other parts of the world, the urban areas of the South Asian region are increasingly expanding. While cities today are the heart of commercial, technological and social development, they are also vulnerable to a variety of natural and anthropogenic threats. The complex urban infrastructure, and the ever-expanding population in cities, exacerbate the impacts of climate change and increase the risk of natural hazards. Throughout history, various hydrological disasters including floods, tidal surges, and droughts, and non-hydrological disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, and storms have led to catastrophic social, economic and environmental impacts in numerous South Asian cities. Disaster risk reduction is therefore central to ensure sustainability in urban areas. Although Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are identified as a promising strategy to reduce risk and increase resilience, there appears to be a lack of evidence-based approaches. NbS are measures that can be practiced to obtain benefits of nature for the environmental and community development through conserving, managing, and restoring ecosystems. Against this backdrop, the South Asian cities provide opportunities to evaluate capacities for achieving Nature-based Resilience (NbR) through NbS. This study documents insights from five cities of five different countries of the South Asian region which are subjected to a wide array of disasters: Barishal (Bangladesh), Phuentsholing (Bhutan), Gurugram (India), Kathmandu (Nepal), and Colombo (Sri Lanka). The primary objective of this study is to provide evidence on how NbS are being practiced. Thus, some success stories in cities under consideration are highlighted: restoration of natural canals through integrated development plans and community participation (Barishal), concepts of Gross National Happiness (GNH) and minimal nature interventions (Phuentsholing), “Greening cities’’ including eco-corridors, vegetation belts, biodiversity parks (Gurugram), proper land use planning aims at different disasters (Kathmandu), and wetland restoration and management with multiple benefits (Colombo). These cases could therefore, act as a “proxy” for learning from each other to prepare for and recover from future disasters while building NbR.
Community perceptions of flood resilience hinge upon translation of impressions of events and built environment, which thereby influence a community's ability to resist, cope with and recover from adverse impacts of flooding. Particularly in developing countries, NGOs, often in collaboration with communities, design and fund non‐traditional structural measures to enhance community resilience. This study examines community perceptions of flood resilience in the Haor region of Bangladesh, where communities live on constructed islands, reinforced by structural flood mitigation measures. Wave activity due to riverine flooding places communities at significant risk, especially as NGO‐funded non‐traditional structural measures intended to increase resilience may fail to do so. Small group meetings with community members were facilitated in graphically depicting and discussing areas of risk and relative safety during flood events. Maps constructed by community groups indicate that perceptions of community vulnerability are shared between generations, and that measures intended to enhance resilience may actually increase community perceptions of vulnerability, highlighting a need for a more nuanced understanding of community adaptation to ongoing risk. Findings identified the use of non‐language‐dependent tools such as cognitive mapping as quick and effective data collection mechanisms. Incorporating this local knowledge allows for more effective targeted measures, increasing community resilience and better informing NGO practices.
Purpose Enhancing community flood resilience is a critical aspect of flood risk management that requires a systematic process of capacity building through incorporating mitigation measures. The inhabitants of South Rishipara, a riverside settlement of Bangladesh, are accommodating themselves in a flood-prone location through modifying their built environment. The purpose of this study is to conduct a detailed investigation regarding the built environment development and find out roles of different actors and contributing factors for enhancing community flood resilience. Design/methodology/approach This case study-based post-positivist research uses multiple lines of inquiries, which include focus group discussions, transect walks, in-depth semi-structured interviews, pair-wise comparisons and a questionnaire survey, mostly in a participatory appraisal manner to obtain data about community experiences and perceptions. Findings About 66.7 per cent of respondents identified themselves as severely affected by flood before the recent development with increased elevation of land, flood protection walls, reclaimed land from the river, underground drainage system, a new layout of plots and houses of better quality. In the post-development situation, not a single respondent identified him/ her in that condition. “Coordination and cooperation among GOs, NGOs and donor agency” (GO: governmental organization; NGO: nongovernmental organization) and “awareness about the flood vulnerability” were identified as key factors and the NGO was identified as the key actor for enhancing community flood resilience by the survey participants. Originality/value This research, through exploring the nuanced relationship between built environment development and community resilience, will contribute to address uncertainties associated with community capacities to respond to risks.
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