Papers by maria constanza gonzalez mathiesen
Wildfires are an increasing threat for many residents who live in the growing urban sprawl and pe... more Wildfires are an increasing threat for many residents who live in the growing urban sprawl and peri-urban areas of cities and regional settlements in wildfire-prone areas. Spatial planning is widely acknowledged as an important aspect of responding to wildfire risk (for instance: Browne & Minnery, 2015; GalianaMartín, 2017; Galiana, Aguilar, & Lázaro, 2013; Groenhart, March, & Holland, 2012; March, 2016; March & Rijal, 2015; Moritz et al., 2014). Spatial planning has the potential to modify the design, location and human characteristics of settlements (March, 2016). Despite agreement about the need of integrating wildfire risk management and spatial planning, systems can often struggle to achieve this, given the range of uncertainties, contingencies, and conflicts involved in achieving integration. This research aims to examine the treatment responses to wildfire key risk factors in urban-rural interfaces and the challenges associated to these. The task is approached from the perspe...
The Australian journal of emergency management, 2014
This paper reports the results of research into the design and planning controls of nine internat... more This paper reports the results of research into the design and planning controls of nine international planning jurisdictions dealing with bushfire or wildfire threats. The research sets out fundamental principles to guide the design of settlements at the site and subdivision level with the aim of improving the ability of land-use planning to deliver resilience outcomes in bushfire-prone areas. The analysis and categorisation of design elements internationally was supported by interviews with Australian bushfire experts. The research concludes that there are nine fundamental land-use principles guiding the design of settlements at risk of bushfire impacts.
Internationally, there is an increasing concern with the development of improved ways of dealing ... more 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 wildfire-prone 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 Aguita de la Perdiz, in Concepcion, Chile, an inf...
The aim of this study is to elaborate on the built and natural environment disciplines’ potential... more The aim of this study is to elaborate on the built and natural environment disciplines’ potential to develop applied understandings of resilience, using the example of land-use planning design guides in bushfire prone areas. The central argument of this study is that land-use planning can develop and apply spatial and physical resilience principles to disasters, contributing to developing meaningful ways of achieving resilience by bridging the space between overarching goals and the specificity of individual contexts. The study concludes that there are nine design principles that can improve settlements resilience in bushfire prone areas to reduce bushfire risk, organized under two major categories: acting on vulnerability and facilitating response.
The Australian journal of emergency management, 2019
Bushfires represent an increasing risk for people and properties in exposed urban areas. The inte... more Bushfires represent an increasing risk for people and properties in exposed urban areas. The integration of bushfire risk management considerations into urban planning is one of the approaches used to address this challenge. This paper summarises the key changes in urban planning and building regulations that were introduced in Victoria over time to minimise the effects of bushfire on settlements. These have generally occurred within four main eras, being the independent origins of planning and bushfire risk management, the progressive emergence of bushfire risk management into urban planning between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, the formalisation of bushfire risk management via urban planning with the Wildfire Management Overlay in 1997 and the 2011 reforms associated with the Bushfire Management Overlay and its following adjustments. Advancements in urban planning regulation have usually occurred after bushfire events that inflicted significant losses on communities. These c...
This discussion addresses the importance of encouraging developments in the inner city to restrai... more This discussion addresses the importance of encouraging developments in the inner city to restrain urban sprawl and the positive attributes of medium density social developments, in the context of Chile. Social housing has been in the scheme of expandable houses that generate neighbourhoods of very low density and high consumption of land in the periphery or apartment buildings that do not allow subsequent growth and that might cause overcrowding.
This study elaborates on the built and natural environment disciplines’ potential to develop appl... more This study elaborates on the built and natural environment disciplines’ potential to develop applied understandings of resilience, using the example of land-use planning design guides in wildfire-prone areas. It argues that land-use planning can develop and apply spatial and physical resilience principles to disasters, contributing to developing meaningful ways of achieving resilience by bridging the space between overarching goals and the specificity of individual contexts, focusing on physical resistance. It concludes that there are nine design principles that can improve settlements resilience in wildfire-prone areas to reduce risks, organized under two major categories: acting on resistance and facilitating response.
International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Uploads
Papers by maria constanza gonzalez mathiesen