Addressing uncertainty through disaster risk management

Abstract

The contribution analyses “How to deal with uncertainty? That is the risk management of disaster, with attention to the context, reading instruments and policy implications. The way in which each company faces a disaster – from risk prevention to disaster mitigation, reconstruction and proper integrated risk management – affects its future development. Since this theme was introduced into the public agenda in the 1970s, societies reacted to the occurrence of disasters and prevailed the idea of studying predictability of phenomena (Natenzon, 2000; Lavell, 2002). The importance of time in understanding disasters lies in the frequency of the event, when disaster occurs and in the stages following disaster, once the risk has materialized (Wisner et al, 2004). The emergency after disasters and the subsequent reconstruction are two cases of overtime in planning, usually derived from contexts of uncertainty. These disasters, which respond to the so-called extended risks, are often managed through the old model of palliative actions, eluding responsibility in the design of long-term risk management policies.

Keywords

natural hazards; spatial planning; urban economy; environment; Italy; territorial resilience

JEL codes

R58; Q54; R14