A relatively new area of emergency management scholarship is that of community resiliency. If a community is resilient, it will be able to effectively bounce back from a disaster.
One general theory in emergency management is that disasters are a social construct. Terry Cannon recently [link url=”http://www.ids.ac.uk/news/natural-hazards-unnatural-disasters-understanding-disasters-in-the-context-of-development” title=”argued”] in a lecture for the Institute of Development Studies, that “earthquakes don’t kill people, poorly constructed buildings do.” This theory has been developed and extended by numerous social science scholars because we can see evidence that appropriate planning for large scale disasters can avoid major catastrophes, loss of life and property.
Community resiliency is an important measure for towns and cities to consider in their planning processes. The concept will help towns and cities to recover from a disaster.
Community Resiliency Efforts
There are many measures for community resiliency efforts to take place in a community. [link url=”https://amuedge.com/churches-lend-a-helping-hand/” title=”Churches”] are an important component of community resiliency, especially as churches are networks of individuals that already communicate and help each other on a regular basis. [link url=”https://amuedge.com/cert-teams-an-important-part-of-community-resiliency/” title=”CERT Teams”] are also an important component of community resiliency as it is comprised of individuals trained in emergency management.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) even includes the community resiliency approach in what they recommend to emergency managers in the [link url=”https://amuedge.com/a-whole-community-approach/” title=”Whole Community Approach”].
Emergency Management Meets Urban Development
While community resiliency is tremendously important for emergency management efforts, it can also help to make a community well-rounded. The [link url=”http://www.100resilientcities.org/resilience#/-_/” title=”100 Resilient Cities Initiative”] identifies several measures that are important for cities to have when it comes to resiliency.
These items include leadership and strategy, health & wellbeing, economy & society and infrastructure & environment. These measures would help to make a town or city a desirable place to live and work. The 100 Resilient Cities organization expands on each of these concepts, and each of these concepts, in turn, is important to maintaining a resilient community for emergency management efforts.
[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/the-100-resilient-cities-initiative/” url2=”http://edmdigest.com/adaptation/resilient-cities-some-great-examples/”]
Well-Rounded Communities and Emergency Management Measures
Numerous scholars argue that the loss of life and property can be prevented if emergency management efforts are planned well. Other scholars argue that community resiliency efforts will help towns and cities to recover faster from a disaster.
The more community resiliency measures are in place, the faster a community could recover from a disaster. The ideas listed by the 100 Resilient Cities organization bring forth concepts that would not only strengthen towns and cities making them a desirable place to live and work, but would also add dimensions that are desperately needed for emergency management efforts.
If the sociological theory about disasters is true, then towns and cities throughout the United States need to make a concerted effort to adopt the principles outlined by the 100 Resilient Cities organization.
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