I am wondering how far remote sensing of built environments would
accurately reflect social vulnerability.
Buildings are not always used for their intended purpose; neither building
use nor density of occupation would be apparent. Building use may not be
uniform; there may be mixed use with only partial occupation.
Building age, construction quality and material, and existing condition
would all impact on physical and social vulnerability - but would not
appear in remote sensing ?
How would vulnerability to various hazards be identified; eg: earthqaukes,
floods, cyclones ?
There may be habitation other than in buildings; eg: railway wagons; sewer
pipes (above ground); "invisible" (to GIS) shanty towns/biddonvilles - or
people without buildings at all ?
Conversely, in the 1980s, Julio Kuroiwa surveyed parts of Lima using
buildings as indicators of vulnerability.
Also in the 1980s, fieldwork in Sri Lanka noted that buildings had the
capacity to protect each other (eg: from cyclone damage), especially in
urban areas. Also, that there were more people in some rural areas than
there were/are in obvioulsy urban areas.
With Best Wishes for a challenging project:
At 23:33 07/11/99 -0800, you wrote:
> Hello all, whatever you think it might be
>useful to strengthen the research. Thanks for all in advance. regards,
> Tarek *****************************************************
>Tarek Rashed
>& Teaching Assistant
>Department of Geography
>San Diego State University
> USA
>Phone: 619-265-8541; FAX: 619-594-4938;
>e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>*****************************************************
> Attachment Converted: "C:\EUDORA\Problem statment.doc"
James Lewis
Architect RIBA
Visiting Fellow in Development Studies
University of Bath
Consultant in natural hazards and human settlements
Datum International
101 High Street
Marshfield
nr Chippenham Wiltshire
SN14 8LT
United Kingdom
e-mail : [log in to unmask]
Telephone: +44 (0)1225 891 426
Fax : +44 (0)1225 892 092
e-mail also on:
http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/natural-hazards-disasters/
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