Natural Disaster, Mitigation and Sustainability: The Case of Developing Countries

ABSTRACT The application of sustainable development principles to natural disaster mitigation in developing countries is examined. Three main and interrelated aspects are considered: land-use planning and policies; shelter design, building materials and construction methods; and institu-tional organization at local, provincial, national and international levels. These three aspects are illustrated on the basis of experiences of human settlements in specic disaster situations and of housing the poor in developing countries in general. Taking into consideration the scale of the problem and the variety of conditions, the most pressing issues are identied, along with the different remedies and the major areas for policy intervention. However, transferring these ideas into implementation strategies, in which creative combinations of solutions, priorities, timeframes and resources are to be identied, will depend on a particular disaster situation and obviously cannot be carried out without detailed examination of the circumstances. Adjustments and changes are proposed to the ways in which human settlements are shaped, grown and managed in order to ensure harmonious interactions between natural and human systems, so that vulnerability to natural disasters is minimized. Facts and Figure