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Review of Infrastructure Resiliency Policy for Natural Disasters

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Proceedings of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering Annual Conference 2021 (CSCE 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering ((LNCE,volume 239))

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Abstract

The growing financial impact of natural disasters has motivated governments to rethink resiliency policy pertaining to built-infrastructure. The creation of an effective resiliency policy is a product of the interplay between informed elites (i.e., engineers, utility operators), governments, and citizen engagement. To help orientate informed elites on the prevalent trends and constraints in this policy domain, a literature review was conducted on built-infrastructure resiliency policy addressing natural disasters. Collection methodology consisted of a targeted keyword search on JSTOR, which resulted in forty relevant articles. Those articles were categorized into the following five resiliency policy approaches: mitigation, adaptation, economic, reconstruction, and policy frameworks. Additionally, a review of country-specific disaster response frameworks was also conducted. The review highlights recent trends in policy decisions. Decision-making on infrastructure resilience policy is moving from a national level to a local level. The consequences of that jurisdictional movement have caused policy decisions to favor mitigation and education tactics which prove to be more politically and fiscally feasible than adaptation tactics. The review also revealed a gap in the literature concerning the diversity of natural disasters being studied. A clear focus has been placed on earthquakes and flooding while wildfires and drought have been neglected.

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Acknowledgements

This study is supported by the Division of Research and Economic Development at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The authors appreciate the support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Policy and Leadership, Greenspun College of Urban Affairs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA

    A. Colletta & J. Lim

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA

    J. Choi

Authors
  1. A. Colletta
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  2. J. Lim
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  3. J. Choi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Choi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Scott Walbridge

  2. Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Mazdak Nik-Bakht

  3. University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada

    Kelvin Tsun Wai Ng

  4. Matrix Solutions Inc., Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Manas Shome

  5. University of British Columbia - Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, BC, Canada

    M. Shahria Alam

  6. University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Ashraf el Damatty

  7. University of British Columbia - Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, BC, Canada

    Gordon Lovegrove

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Colletta, A., Lim, J., Choi, J. (2023). Review of Infrastructure Resiliency Policy for Natural Disasters. In: Walbridge, S., et al. Proceedings of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering Annual Conference 2021 . CSCE 2021. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 239. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0503-2_51

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0503-2_51

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-19-0503-2

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