Developing guidelines for increasing the resilience of informal settlements exposed to wildfire risk using a risk-based planning approach

Abstract

Internationally, there is an increasing concern with the development of improved ways of dealing with disasters(UNISDR, 2015). Wildfires bring about greater disaster risks at the urban-rural interface of wildfireprone areas, where lives and properties are more exposed. These risks are often greater in contexts of informality, where settlements have been built with limited consideration of risks. This chapter reports on the production of guidelines to develop resilience to wildfires for communities living in informal settlements exposed to wildfire risk. It responds to Sendai Framework for Action's priority one “understanding disaster risk” (UNISDR, 2015, p.15). The investigation is approached through participatory action research. It is the result of a collaboration between diverse stakeholders during the seminar ‘Prevention of Forest Fire Risks in Urban Settlements and Buildings: A Planning and Design Approach’. The study case is Agüita de la Perdiz, in Concepcion, Chile, an informal settlement with ongoing wildfire risk. The seminar’s product is condensed in a set of guidelines. These guidelines – and the process of producing them – are expected to contribute to disseminating knowledge about general design and planning strategies to mitigate wildfire risk as well as to strengthen local capacities. It is argued that the collaborative process undertaken to develop the guidelines is replicable in other places to address contextspecific issues.