AVAILABILITY AND DIVERSITY OF LANDSCAPES FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE: The case of cities exposed to tsunami hazard along the southern Pacific coast

Abstract

Chilean coastal cities grow and expand rapidly due to the development of real estate projects that replace natural systems with urbanized land. This change probably decreases post-disaster adaptation, and negatively affects the ecological dimension of resilience. The objective is to characterize the resilience capacity of Chilean cities exposed to tsunami, from the point of view of the ecological dimension. The socio-spatial analysis of land use, urbanization and population of 10 representative cities of the 53 exposed to tsunami, indicated that the urban occupation of the mountain range varies the availability and diversity of landscapes for adaptation in case of tsunami. However, these landscapes vary more noticeably latitudinally. The challenges and possibilities of including these landscapes in city planning are discussed in the context of the new DRR regulatory framework in Chile, broadening its perspective towards adaptation to disasters.

Keywords: Coastal cities, tsunami, urban resilience, adaptation, Chile