The Mount Parnitha (Athens) Earthquake of September 7, 1999: A Disaster Management Perspective

Natural Hazards - Strong earthquakes in the proximity of densely inhabited urban areas pose one ofthe most complicated disaster management situations faced by societies today. Herethe experience...     

A safer city centre for all? Senses of `community safety' in Newcastle upon Tyne

In recent years, many city authorities in Europe and North America have sought to attract people back to city centres for leisure, shopping, business and residence. The planning measures commonly adopted take explicit account of issues of crime and safety. The concept of `community safety' as applied to the city centre is problematic, however, as users have diverse lifestyles, interests and values which impact on their own and others' safety. This paper reports on a study of the experiences and perceptions of safety of different groups of city centre users in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. While social identities and roles shaped the extent of concern and subsequent impacts on people's use of the city centre space, the research suggested that many concerns are genuinely shared. The paper investigates the congruence of a range of planning strategies with city centre users' safety concerns. Situational measures were viewed with scepticism, as fear centres on the presence and behaviour of others.     

Quantifying Storm Tide Risk in Cairns

The United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR)gave rise to an increasing level of attention to the risks posed by a range of naturalhazards and the development of strategies by which to reduce those risks. It waswidely recognised that in order to evaluate risk treatment strategies it was necessaryto `measure' the level of risk that already existed and the level of risk that would beencountered with the treatment strategy(s) in place.This paper outlines the methodology developed under the AGSO (now GeoscienceAustralia) Cities Project to quantify the risk associated with storm tide inundation. It includes the methodology for `measuring' the level of community exposure to storm tide hazards and the methodology for `measuring' community vulnerability. The Far North Queensland city of Cairns is used as the case study to demonstrate the application of these methods.     

Community Vulnerability to Tropical Cyclones: Cairns, 1996–2000

This paper is a partial discussion of a four-year study that investigated the vulnerability of the people living in the Cairns region to the tropical cyclone hazard. The longitudinal case study, focussing on the Cairns Northern Beaches area, was unique in that it included a social and societal `pre-cyclone impact' evaluation of various resident communities within the region, and then two consecutive `post-cyclone impact' studies. The primary research method supported an inductive qualitative approach to the collection and analysis of survey data. Some quantitative methods were invoked to support qualitative research findings. Survey data was collected in five separate questionnaire-based social surveys that were administered between 1996 and 2000. During the study, residents experiencedthe direct impact of two land-falling tropical cyclones. In addition to this, targeted andfocussed tropical cyclone awareness education was made increasingly available withinthe community. The social and demographic attributes that influence the individual'sperception of risk and contribute to our understanding of community vulnerability were examined and evaluated. Changes in the residents' attitudes, cyclone preparednessbehaviours and willingness to respond to cyclone warnings were monitored and measured. Analysis of early survey data indicated that community residents generally had some knowledge of cyclones but a limited understanding of cyclone processes and very little direct personal experience of the cyclone hazard. Individually and collectively, residents frequently demonstrated a biased perception of the risks associated with cyclones. The resident community was shown to be fragmented, with limited support being available to individual households. Initially, residents were found to be poorly prepared for cyclones and unlikely to respond to warnings appropriately. It appeared that, in the event of a land-falling tropical cyclone impacting the area, the community was highly vulnerable to unnecessary loss of property, livelihood and – in extreme circumstances – life. By 2000, Cairns community residents were somewhat better informed about cyclones and certainly more experienced. This paper provides some insight into how cyclone experience and education may synergisticly have contributed to a change in risk perceptions and a reduction in the vulnerability of Cairns residents to the tropical cyclone and storm surge hazards.     

Communities as the agents of commodification: The Kumbo Water Authority in Northwest Cameroon

In 1991 the people of the town of Kumbo in Northwest Cameroon expelled the national water corporation from town by force. They claimed to be retrieving a network that the community rightfully owned and they began to run the system along community lines. The paper tells the story of that water supply twice. First it reproduces the popular accounts that circulated in the 1990s that emphasize the role played by the community in the development and operation of the water supply and portray recent events as a triumph of community management. Then it retells the story using archive evidence that puts a quite different light on some of the events. It is argued that the emphasis on community management has a tendency to obscure other important aspects of the story, for example its political context and consequences. It is suggested that the widespread admiration for any initiative that is community based often results in an uncritical analysis of this form of development project. In this case the commodification of water accelerates after the community has wrested control of this public service from the state.     

‘Bringing government to the people’: women, local governance and community participation in South Africa

This paper considers the ongoing political transformations in South Africa in the context of debates about good governance and participatory democracy. It first appraises the current transformations of local government in South Africa, focusing specifically on relationships between gender equality and citizenship on the one hand, and local government policy, legislation, and community participation on the other, and then explores meanings of participation and how they inform approaches towards local socio-economic development. The findings of primary research conducted with civil society organisations and black women in communities in the Cape Town metropolitan area are explored through three interrelated themes. First, the model of structured participation that is central to South Africa’s democratic transformation is assessed from the perspective of black women. Second, cultures of alienation, both within local governance structures and amongst black women and the extent to which recent restructuring is combating or contributing to these are explored. Third, how participation policies are dealing with conflict within and between target groups are analysed, whether stakeholder group politics obliterate important differences in interests and whether alternative structures might be more effective in terms of women’s participation and empowerment. Finally, the findings are interpreted in relation to theoretical concepts of good governance and participatory democracy, and the potential and problems of realising South Africa’s transformation process toward developmental local government are assessed.     

昆明经济技术开发区场地地震易损性分析

通过对昆明经济技术开发区的地质构造，场地工程地质环境，砂土液化判别以震害预测的综合研究，进行了区内的场地地震易损性分析。根据计算出的地震易损性指数，结果表明，可将研究区划分为两个震害程度不同的区域。     

梭梭荒漠生态系统：Ⅰ初级生产力及其群落结构的动态变化

通过对梭梭荒漠群落的种类组成、垂直结构、水平结构、季相及梭梭当年生绿色同化枝和草本层的地上植物量的研究，表明在以小半乔木梭梭占主导地位的群落中，丰富的短生植物及长营养期一年生植物均得到较好的发育，说明该群落具有由中亚荒漠向亚洲中部荒漠过渡的性质。而大量单种属或寡种属出现，反映出了梭梭群落具有干旱植物区系的明显特征，与整个新疆植被荒漠植物区系的特征相一致。梭梭群落中建群层片的种类单一，与北疆其它荒漠植被类型相似，而伴生植物的种类组成比其它类型丰富，特别是短生植物及长营养期一年生植物种类较多。初级生产力分别与梭梭当年生绿色同化枝的萌发、生长和脱落，短生植物的迅速生长和死亡，以及长营养期一年生植物的生长有密切关系，分别在５月下旬、６月下旬和８月上旬达到高峰。梭梭当年生绿色同化枝的植物量在其整个群落初级生产力的构成中作用明显。是整个群落初级生产力的７２．３％～８５．８％。     

黄土的物理力学指标与黄土易损性分析研究

作者多年来在黄土地区进行了考察和勘探并采集了各类黄土样品，在室内外进行了黄土的物理力学性质的试验研究，取得了大量的关于黄土特性的资料．根据这些研究结果，探讨了黄土的物理力学指标与黄土易损性的关系及其区域分布规律，从而研究它与黄土地区的地质灾害和震害的关系．