Author(s)

Andre Schardong, Slobodan P. Simonovic & Howard Tong

Abstract

Damages to urban systems as a result of various natural hazards have escalated in recent years. The observed trend is expected to increase in the future as the impacts of population growth, rapid urbanization and climate change persist. To alleviate the damages associated with these impacts, it is recommended to integrate disaster management methods into planning, design and operational policies under all levels of government. This manuscript proposes the use of quantitative resilience concept (dynamic in time and space) to assess the response of an urban system to natural hazards. The implementation of the concept has been done in the form of the web-based decision support system that operates in near real-time. It is designed to assist decision makers in selecting the best options for integrating adaptive capacity into their communities to protect against the negative impacts of hazards. The tool is developed for application in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Keywords

adaptation, decision support, disaster management, hydro-meteorological, online tool, Resilience, urban systems