| Author | Khailani, Dzul Khaimi Bin |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.UE-12-05 |
| Subject(s) | Climatic changes--Malaysia--Shah Alam
Flood damage prevention--Maylaysia--Shah Alam
|
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Environmental Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Mainstreaming climate change related scenarios in urban development planning is a
significant knowledge gap in existing literature. The main research question in this study
is; how local development plans are utilized and should be utilized by local authorities to
improve resilience of urban areas against climate change induced disasters. Accordingly,
the overall objective of this study is to develop an understanding on civil society's
perceptions and needs to enhance the resilience of urban areas, and the gaps in responses
by urban authorities in general and urban planners in particular, in order to comprehend the
appropriate mechanism to mainstream disaster resilient attributes in local development
plans for the adaptation to climate change.
The study progressed through the following method to achieve the overall objectives.
Firstly parameters of vulnerability and resilience to disasters were understood through face
to face interview in eight settlement areas mostly affected by floods in Shah Alam city ..
The questionnaire was distributed among 250 local residents randomly to identify
contributing factors to the vulnerability of their settlements and the existing qualities of
resilience against hazards. Secondly, the results of the survey was used to shortlist the most
important factors of vulnerability and resilience, and used to prepare a structured
questionnaire to interview policy makers and professional urban planners in Shah Alam
city. Concurrently, the content analysis method was used to determine how listed factors
feature and functions in the local development plan. Thirdly, the principal components
analysis technique was used to reduce the number of parameters and indicators identified
in the first two steps in order to detennine the disaster resilient strategies that need to be
mainstreamed in the local development plan of Shah Alam. Lastly, the adaptation
efficiency index was constructed to establish a relationship between disaster resilient
groups and the improvement of disaster resilient strategies attributes for mainstreaming
and adaptation in local plan.
The analysis leads to revealed three significant findings. Firstly, the disaster resilient
attributes in the study were found to be in line with the limited references. Secondly, the
people's sensitivity to hazards and perception on probable hazard risks impacts and the
adaptive capacity were revealed as important attribute factors that explain the current status
of their disaster resilience but they are inherent attributes of resilience was not induced by
planning and development intervention by authorities. This is confirmed by the third
finding from the content analysis that the supply side (i.e. planning intervention) has not
been effective in catering the demand side (i.e. needs of the civil societies). Conventional
planning intervention of land use control was found to be the only measure pertaining to
disaster preparedness in the local level development planning. Integrating disaster resilient
strategies in local plans and improving understanding for all urban stakeholders in Shah
Alam seems logical policy implication of these findings. The study justifies the need of
mainstreaming disaster resilience strategies in local development planning as a response to
the contemporary challenges of creating safer and resilient cities. The study also make a
knowledge contribution to the fields of urban planning and disaster preparedness by
bridging the gap between the rational planning process commonly practices by the
professional planners and the community based disaster management process practiced by
other development practitioners.
Key words: Adaptation to climate change, Flood hazard, Attributes of resilience, Local
development plan, Mainstreaming, Shah Alam city |
| Year | 2012 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Urban Environmental and Management (UE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Perera, Ranjith
|
| Examination Committee(s) | Vilas Nitivattananon ;Samarakoon, Lal ;Shaw, Rajib |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Public Service Department of Malaysia
|
| Degree | Thesis (Ph. D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2012 |
