Potential of a shopping street to serve as a food distribution center and an evacuation shelter during disasters: Case study of Kobe, Japan

Kotani, Hitomu; Yokomatsu, Muneta; Itô, Hideyuki

doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101286

“…Such facilities include universities (Taga 2004), libraries (Etou et al 2012), roadside stations (Tanaka and Kawasaki 2016;Hirano 2017), and commercial facilities (Ota et al 2017;Sanuki et al 2018). The possibility of facilities to not only serve as temporary shelters but also as on-site food distribution centers has been considered, including the use of local shopping streets (Kotani et al 2020). Buddhist temples have been used as evacuation centers in past disasters (Hayashi et al 2012;Inaba 2016); therefore, there is increasing interest in using Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines (Gotoh et al 2015;Sasaki and Katsumata 2015), and some disaster relief agreements with local governments have been made (Inaba 2015;Inaba and Kono 2019).…”

Section: Facilities and Buildings Complementing Designated Shelters Imentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The oor area of the vacant spaces in the mosques were determined using oor plans obtained from each imam or by taking measurements. Generally, a oor space of 2-3 m 2 per person is needed in a shelter (e.g., Beniya and Sadaike 2011;Furuhashi 2013;Kotani et al 2020). Thus, we assumed that 3 m 2 was required for one person.…”

Section: Survey Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We asked imams about how often they usually purchase food to serve for meals and the quantity of food purchased. From this, one could estimate the average food stocks and the number of evacuees that could be fed by mosques (Kotani et al 2020). ( 4) It is also important to consider not only the physical aspects of the potential shelters, but also the willingness of the administrators to allow the use the mosques as shelters.…”

Section: Survey Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of mosques as voluntary shelters could also solve other problems of designated shelters in the immediate post-disaster period. Designated shelters do not have su cient capacity and their existence is not well-known by residents prior to disasters (Asahi Shimbun 2011;Mainichi Newspaper 2016;Kotani et al 2020). Therefore, private facilities and buildings are required to complement the designated shelters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Potential of mosques to serve as evacuation shelters for foreign Muslims during disasters: A case study in Gunma, Japan

Kotani

¹

,

Tamura

²

,

Li

³

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

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Foreigners tend to be vulnerable to disasters due to religious and cultural differences. In Japan, Muslim foreign residents, who are minorities, likely face difficulties in terms of food and religious practices in evacuation shelters. In this study, we propose the use of mosques as voluntary shelters for Muslim foreigners in Japan and evaluate their potential to function as shelters. Mosques are expected to have a large space, including a prayer space, and to store food familiar to daily users. We conducted field surveys targeting two mosques in Isesaki, Gunma, Japan, to investigate their equipment and building environment in relation to how they could function as shelters; the number of evacuees they could accommodate; the amount of food they could supply to evacuees; and the willingness of the administrators to use the mosques as shelters. Both mosques were found to be equipped with toilets and shower rooms and had enough space for approximately 60–80 evacuees. They also had sufficient kitchen space and tableware to prepare meals for about 100 people. Although they did not always stock a large amount of food, they could quickly receive food from nearby stores. Moreover, the administrators were willing to use the mosques as shelters. Therefore, it was suggested that the mosques could serve as shelters accommodating and feeding many evacuees. Finally, measures to improve the function of mosques as shelters are discussed. This study lays the groundwork for the future use of mosques as shelters.

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“…Besides being a principal factor of the food system, Regional Food Hubs (RFHs) have a role in regulating and guaranteeing food supply, in ensuring food security and access in some regions, and will likely have a positive impact in the development of the regional economy (Sharpe et al, 2020;Etemadnia et al, 2015;Farmer and Betz, 2016;Kotani et al, 2020). For food security issues, the RFH becomes a critical facility to optimize food supply to consumers, as well as pay attention to sustainability aspect as a part of food security (Sharpe et al, 2020;Sonnino et al, 2014;Etemadnia et al, 2015;Farmer and Betz, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scenarios for handling the impact of COVID-19 based on food supply network through regional food hubs under uncertainty

Perdana¹,

Chaerani²,

Achmad³

et al. 2020

Heliyon

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This paper discusses an optimization model for handling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic based on food supply network through regional food hubs (RFHs) under uncertainty. To this end, uncertainty is assumed in the demand and production data. During the Pandemic COVID-19 period, uncertainty has increased and the food supply chain system has changed. Thus, a new configuration of the food supply network requires analysis. In this paper, the concept of RFH is introduced to connect producers in rural areas and customers in urban areas. This paper determines the location and capacity of RFHs, the food supply network, the sum of maximum food supplies, and minimum logistics cost. This is done via a Multi-Objective Many-to-Many Location-Routing Problem model. Furthermore, since the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic is uncertain, robust optimization is employed to handle uncertainties. During the current pandemic, red zones are defined to indicate the severity of the pandemic in a region. In this paper, the numerical experiment is considered for three scenarios: when a region is in largescale social distancing, partial social distancing, or normal conditions. This social distancing situation is based on the defined red zones. The optimal food supply network is obtained for the three scenarios and the best scenario among the three is identified.

show abstract

Potential of mosques to serve as evacuation shelters for foreign Muslims during disasters: a case study in Gunma, Japan

Kotani

¹

,

Tamura

²

,

Li

³

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Foreigners tend to be vulnerable to disasters due to religious and cultural differences. In Japan, Muslim foreign residents, who are minorities, likely face difficulties in terms of food and religious practices in evacuation shelters. In this study, we propose the use of mosques as voluntary shelters for Muslim foreigners in Japan and evaluate their potential to function as shelters. Mosques are expected to have a large space, including a prayer space, and to store food familiar to daily users. We conducted field surveys targeting two mosques in Isesaki, Gunma, Japan, to investigate their equipment and building environment in relation to how they could function as shelters; the number of evacuees they could accommodate; the amount of food they could supply to evacuees; and the willingness of the administrators to use the mosques as shelters. Both mosques were found to be equipped with toilets and shower rooms and had enough space for approximately 60–80 evacuees. They also had sufficient kitchen space and tableware to prepare meals for about 100 people. Although they did not always stock a large amount of food, they could quickly receive food from nearby stores. Moreover, the administrators were willing to use the mosques as shelters. Therefore, it was suggested that the mosques could serve as shelters accommodating and feeding many evacuees. Finally, measures to improve the function of mosques as shelters are discussed. This study lays the groundwork for the future use of mosques as shelters.

show abstract

Potential of a shopping street to serve as a food distribution center and an evacuation shelter during disasters: Case study of Kobe, Japan

Cited by 14 publications

References 18 publications

Potential of mosques to serve as evacuation shelters for foreign Muslims during disasters: A case study in Gunma, Japan

Potential of mosques to serve as evacuation shelters for foreign Muslims during disasters: A case study in Gunma, Japan

Scenarios for handling the impact of COVID-19 based on food supply network through regional food hubs under uncertainty

Potential of mosques to serve as evacuation shelters for foreign Muslims during disasters: a case study in Gunma, Japan

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