The Geo-Social Model: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Flow-Type Landslide Analysis and Prevention

Landslide disaster risks increase worldwide, particularly in urban areas. To design and implement more effective and democratic risk reduction programs, calls for transdisciplinary approaches have recently increased. However, little attention has been paid to the actual articulation of transdisciplinary methods and their associated challenges. To fill this gap, we draw on the case of the 1993 Quebrada de Macul disaster, Chile, to propose what we label as the Geo-Social Model. This experimental methodology aims at integrating recursive interactions between geological and social factors configuring landslide for more robust and inclusive analyses and interventions. It builds upon three analytical blocks or site-specific environments in constant co-determination: (1) The geology and geomorphology of the study area; (2) the built environment, encompassing infrastructural, urban, and planning conditions; and (3) the sociocultural environment, which includes community memory, risk perceptions, and territorial organizing. Our results are summarized in a geo-social map that systematizes the complex interactions between the three environments that facilitated the Quebrada de Macul flow-type landslide. While our results are specific to this event, we argue that the Geo-Social Model can be applied to other territories. In our conclusions, we suggest, first, that landslides in urban contexts are often the result of anthropogenic disruptions of natural balances and systems, often related to the lack of place-sensitive urban planning. Second, that transdisciplinary approaches are critical for sustaining robust and politically effective landslide risk prevention plans. Finally, that inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches to landslide risk prevention need to be integrated into municipal-level planning for a better understanding of—and prevention of—socio-natural hazards.

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Policy Instruments for NBS to Landslide Risk Management in Urban Areas in the Hilly Areas of Sri Lanka

ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ◽

10.3280/efe2018-002006 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 113-133

Author(s):

Priyanka Dissanayake ◽

Federica Ranghieri

Keyword(s):

Risk Management ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Landslide Risk

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Local Communities as a Tool for the Development of Municipal Democracy: German Experience and Lessons for Russia

Sravnitel noe konstitucionnoe obozrenie ◽

10.21128/1812-7126-2020-5-74-88 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (5) ◽

pp. 74-88

Author(s):

Aleksandr Larichev ◽

Emil Markwart

Keyword(s):

Local Government ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Local Population ◽

Local Communities ◽

The State ◽

Household Waste ◽

Small Scale ◽

Issue Management ◽

State Management ◽

Municipal Level

Local government as a political, legal and social institution finds itself in a very difficult period of development in Russia. The long-established tendency of its subordination to the state has intensified today in connection with the newly adopted constitutional amendments. At the same time, it seems obvious that further “embedding” of local government into the state management vertical, in the absence of any positive effect in terms of solving socio-economic and infrastructural problems, will inevitably lead to other hard to reverse, negative results both for local government institutions and the system of public authority as a whole. The normal functioning of local government requires, however, not only the presence of its sufficient institutional and functional autonomy from the state, but also an adequate territorial and social base for its implementation. To ensure the formation of viable territorial collectives, especially in urban areas, it seems appropriate to promote the development of self-government based on local groups at the intra-municipal level. Such local groups can independently manage issues of local importance on a small scale (landscaping, social volunteering, and neighborly mutual assistance), and provide, within the boundaries of a local territory, due civil control over the maintenance by municipal authorities of more complex and large-scale local issues (repair and development of infrastructure, removal of solid household waste and more). At the same time, the development of local communities can by no means be a self-sufficient and substitutional mechanism, whose introduction would end the need for democracy in the full scope of municipal structures overall. In this regard, the experience of local communities’ development in Germany, a state with legal traditions similar to Russian ones, with a centuries-old history of the development of territorial communities and a difficult path to building democracy and forming civil society, seems to be very interesting. Here, the progressive development of local forms of democracy and the participation of residents in local issue management are combined with stable mechanisms of municipal government, and the interaction of municipalities with the state does not torpedo the existing citizen forms of self-government. At the same time, the experience of Germany shows that the decentralization of public issue management which involves the local population can only be effective in a situation where, in addition to maintaining a full-fledged self-government mechanism at the general municipal level, relevant local communities are endowed with real competence and resources to influence local issue decision-making. The role of formalized local communities in urban areas, as the German experience shows, can not only facilitate the decentralization of solving public problems, but can also help in timely elimination of triggers for mobilizing citywide supercollectives with negative agendas. This experience seems useful and applicable in the Russian context.

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Debris-flow susceptibility assessment through cellular automata modeling: an example from 15–16 December 1999 disaster at Cervinara and San Martino Valle Caudina (Campania, southern Italy)

Natural Hazards and Earth System Science ◽

10.5194/nhess-3-457-2003 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

pp. 457-468 ◽

Cited By ~ 46

Author(s):

G. Iovine ◽

S. Di Gregorio ◽

V. Lupiano

Keyword(s):

Cellular Automata ◽

Debris Flow ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Debris Flows ◽

Soil Cover ◽

Southern Italy ◽

Landslide Risk ◽

Campania Region ◽

Optimal Values ◽

Debris Flow Susceptibility

Abstract. On 15–16 December 1999, heavy rainfall severely stroke Campania region (southern Italy), triggering numerous debris flows on the slopes of the San Martino Valle Caudina-Cervinara area. Soil slips originated within the weathered volcaniclastic mantle of soil cover overlying the carbonate skeleton of the massif. Debris slides turned into fast flowing mixtures of matrix and large blocks, downslope eroding the soil cover and increasing their original volume. At the base of the slopes, debris flows impacted on the urban areas, causing victims and severe destruction (Vittori et al., 2000). Starting from a recent study on landslide risk conditions in Campania, carried out by the Regional Authority (PAI –Hydrogeological setting plan, in press), an evaluation of the debris-flow susceptibility has been performed for selected areas of the above mentioned villages. According to that study, such zones would be in fact characterised by the highest risk levels within the administrative boundaries of the same villages ("HR-zones"). Our susceptibility analysis has been performed by applying SCIDDICA S3–hex – a hexagonal Cellular Automata model (von Neumann, 1966), specifically developed for simulating the spatial evolution of debris flows (Iovine et al., 2002). In order to apply the model to a given study area, detailed topographic data and a map of the erodable soil cover overlying the bedrock of the massif must be provided (as input matrices); moreover, extent and location of landslide source must also be given. Real landslides, selected among those triggered on winter 1999, have first been utilised for calibrating SCIDDICA S3–hex and for defining "optimal" values for parameters. Calibration has been carried out with a GIS tool, by quantitatively comparing simulations with actual cases: optimal values correspond to best simulations. Through geological evaluations, source locations of new phenomena have then been hypothesised within the HR-zones. Initial volume for these new cases has been estimated by considering the actual statistics of the 1999 landslides. Finally, by merging the results of simulations, a deterministic susceptibility zonation of the considered area has been obtained. In this paper, aiming at illustrating the potential for debris-flow hazard analyses of the model SCIDDICA S3–hex, a methodological example of susceptibility zonation of the Vallicelle HR-zone is presented.

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Māori Urban Migrations and Identities, ‘Ko Ngā Iwi Nuku Whenua’: A study of Urbanisation in the Wellington Region during the Twentieth Century

10.26686/wgtn.17007976 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Erin Keenan

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Migration ◽

World War ◽

Historical Sources ◽

The Past ◽

Complex Interactions ◽

The Subject ◽

The Many ◽

Migration Experiences

<p>Māori urbanisation and urban migrations have been the subject of much discussion and research, especially following World War Two when Māori individuals, whānau and communities increasingly became residents of towns and cities that were overwhelmingly Pākehā populated. However, Māori urbanisation experiences and urban migrations are difficult topics to address because kaumātua are reluctant to discuss ‘urban Māori’, especially considering its implications for Māori identities. The original contribution this thesis makes to histories of Māori urban migrations is that it explores these and other understandings of urbanisations to discover some of their historical influences. By discussing urbanisations directly with kaumātua and exploring historical sources of Māori living in, and moving to, the urban spaces of Wellington and the Hutt Valley through the twentieth century, this thesis is a ‘meeting place’ for a range of perspectives on the meanings of urbanisations from the past and the present. Although urbanisation was an incredible time of material change for the individuals and whānau who chose to move into cities such as Wellington, the histories of urban migration experiences exist within a scope of Māori and iwi worldviews that gave rise to multiple experiences and understandings of urbanisations. The Wellington region is used to show that Māori in towns and cities used Māori social and cultural forms in urban areas so that they could, through the many challenges of becoming urban-dwelling, ensure the persistence of their Māoritanga. Urbanisations also allowed Māori to both use traditional identities in urban areas, as well as develop new relationships modelled on kinship. The Ngāti Pōneke community is used as an example of the complex interactions between these identities and how many Māori became active residents in but not conceptually ‘of’ cities. As a result, the multiple and layered Māori identities that permeate throughout Māori experiences of the present and the past are important considerations in approaching and discussing urbanisations. Urban Māori communities have emphasised the significance of varied and layered Māori identities, and this became particularly pronounced through the Māori urban migrations of the twentieth century.</p>

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Flood risk behaviors of United States riverine metropolitan areas are driven by local hydrology and shaped by race

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2016839118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 118 (13) ◽

pp. e2016839118

Author(s):

James Knighton ◽

Kelly Hondula ◽

Cielo Sharkus ◽

Christian Guzman ◽

Rebecca Elliott

Keyword(s):

Risk Perceptions ◽

Structural Damage ◽

Metropolitan Areas ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Risk Averse ◽

Local Data ◽

Annual Peak ◽

Complex Interactions ◽

Hydrological Hazards ◽

Flooding Risk

Flooding risk results from complex interactions between hydrological hazards (e.g., riverine inundation during periods of heavy rainfall), exposure, vulnerability (e.g., the potential for structural damage or loss of life), and resilience (how well we recover, learn from, and adapt to past floods). Building on recent coupled conceptualizations of these complex interactions, we characterize human–flood interactions (collective memory and risk-enduring attitude) at a more comprehensive scale than has been attempted to date across 50 US metropolitan statistical areas with a sociohydrologic (SH) model calibrated with accessible local data (historical records of annual peak streamflow, flood insurance loss claims, active insurance policy records, and population density). A cluster analysis on calibrated SH model parameter sets for metropolitan areas identified two dominant behaviors: 1) “risk-enduring” cities with lower flooding defenses and longer memory of past flood loss events and 2) “risk-averse” cities with higher flooding defenses and reduced memory of past flooding. These divergent behaviors correlated with differences in local stream flashiness indices (i.e., the frequency and rapidity of daily changes in streamflow), maximum dam heights, and the proportion of White to non-White residents in US metropolitan areas. Risk-averse cities tended to exist within regions characterized by flashier streamflow conditions, larger dams, and larger proportions of White residents. Our research supports the development of SH models in urban metropolitan areas and the design of risk management strategies that consider both demographically heterogeneous populations, changing flood defenses, and temporal changes in community risk perceptions and tolerance.

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Using a Rural Index to Assess Crime Risk and Crime Prevention Behavior Across the Urban–Rural Continuum: A Japanese Case Study

International Criminal Justice Review ◽

10.1177/10575677211039998 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 105756772110399

Author(s):

Takahito Shimada ◽

Ai Suzuki

Keyword(s):

Crime Prevention ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Census Data ◽

Motor Vehicle ◽

Linear Pattern ◽

Combining Data ◽

Prevention Behavior ◽

Urban Rural ◽

Municipal Level

The study proposes a new method of crime analysis combining data from multiple secondary data sources (census, open crime data, and social survey) to assess the risk of victimization and crime prevention behavior in resource-limited settings. Principal component analysis was performed on municipal-level census data ( n = 1,883) to generate a rural index that represents the ecological characteristics of each municipality across the urban–rural continuum. Multilevel logistic analyses were then applied to crime incident data ( n = 207,771) to assess the municipal-level effects on victims’ use of locks in motor vehicle and bicycle thefts. A linear pattern of victimization was found for bicycle theft (the risk was about one-thirtieth in the most rural municipalities than that in the most urban municipalities), while the pattern found was nonlinear for motor vehicle thefts. The analysis also revealed that victims in rural areas were less likely to have locked their vehicles before they were stolen than those living in urban areas. Using the rural index developed in this study, police forces can have a better understanding of crime problems in their jurisdiction across the urban–rural continuum. The study discusses the implications of the results for crime prevention and problem-solving policymaking in the urban–rural continuum.

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Measuring Municipal Participation in Homeless Governance

Ungoverned and Out of Sight ◽

10.1093/oso/9780197548325.003.0004 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 52-66

Author(s):

Charley E. Willison

Keyword(s):

Housing Policy ◽

Urban Areas ◽

The United States ◽

Supportive Housing ◽

The Political ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Housing Policies ◽

Chronic Homelessness ◽

Data Set ◽

Municipal Level

Chapter 4 examines national variation in municipal responses to chronic homelessness, identifying the prevalence of municipal-level supportive housing policies among municipalities affected by homelessness in the United States and identifying and examining factors associated with the presence of a municipal-level supportive housing policy. The presence of municipal-level supportive housing policies is an indication of evidence-based policy adoption to address chronic homelessness effectively in urban areas. To date, there has been almost no research on the political predictors of the adoption of these evidence-based policies. Results demonstrate that most municipalities facing homelessness challenges do not have supportive housing policies. Of the municipalities in the data set, only 40% had a municipal-level supportive housing policy. These municipalities tend to be: more liberal; sanctuary cities; have fewer but better funded nonprofit health organizations; lower rates of municipal governmental fragmentation; and located in states without Medicaid expansion.

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Operative Monographies: Development of a New Tool for the Effective Management of Landslide Risks

Geosciences ◽

10.3390/geosciences8120485 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 485 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Daniele Giordan ◽

Martina Cignetti ◽

Aleksandra Wrzesniak ◽

Paolo Allasia ◽

Davide Bertolo

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Interdisciplinary Approach ◽

Civil Aviation ◽

Landslide Risk ◽

Effective Management ◽

Standard Format ◽

Hazard Management ◽

Efficient Management ◽

Long Time ◽

Nw Italy

Active landslide risk assessment and management are primarily based on the availability of dedicated studies and monitoring activities. The establishment of decision support for the efficient management of active landslides threatening urban areas is a worthwhile contribution. Nowadays, consistent information about major landslide hazards is obtained through an interdisciplinary approach, consisting of field survey data and long-time monitoring, with the creation of a high populated dataset. Nevertheless, the large number and variety of acquired data can generate some criticalities in their management. Data fragmentation and a missing standard format of the data should represent a serious hitch in landslide hazard management. A good organization in a standard format can be a good operative solution. Based on standardized approaches such as the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), we developed a standard document called operative monography. This document summarizes all available information by organizing monitoring data and identifying possible lacks. We tested this approach in the Aosta Valley Region (NW Italy) on five different slow moving landslides monitored for twenty years. The critical analysis of the available dataset modifies a simple sequence of information in a more complex document, adoptable by local and national authorities for a more effective management of active landslides.

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Methodological Dimensions of Delineating Peri-urban Areas: The Case of Kolkata Metropolis

Environment and Urbanization Asia ◽

10.1177/0975425320938519 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 183-194

Author(s):

Dinabandhu Mondal ◽

Sucharita Sen

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Spaces ◽

The Past ◽

Social Transitions ◽

Complex Interactions ◽

Metropolitan Cities ◽

Municipal Boundaries ◽

The City ◽

Complex Characters

In the past few decades, due to urbanization and spatial expansion of cities beyond their municipal boundaries, complex interactions between the city and its surrounding rural areas have occurred, resulting in the formation of peri-urban spaces or zones of transition. There is a plurality of definitions for these peri-urban spaces, due to their diverse character in terms of land and water use, livelihood shifts, demographic and social transitions. Most peri-urban areas, specifically those around large metropolitan cities, are increasingly assuming complex characters, which call for governance structures beyond rural–urban binaries. For any administrative intervention of a serious nature in peri-urban areas, a standard methodology for demarcation of these spaces is required. This article is an attempt to develop and apply such a methodology beyond the existing ones, using government sources of data, in the case of Kolkata Metropolis. This article uses socio-economic and land-use characteristics to achieve this objective. It finds that peri-urban spaces do not necessarily develop uniformly around the city; instead, they are fragmented and could be located both near or relatively far from urban areas.

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