How Buildings Adapt to Natural Disasters: Indicators from Highly Vulnerable Countries
The devastation caused by natural disasters, whether floods, fires, earthquakes, or the like, is not only inherently dangerous, but also results in significant tragedy. Such disasters test a crucial aspect of a state's infrastructure, apparatus, laws, and ability to respond quickly.
Numerous international indicators seek to assess countries' experience in dealing with disasters, focusing on emergency services, from firefighting to emergency medical care, civil defense teams, and other institutions involved in disaster response and outcomes. Others examine the legal and administrative structures that govern construction and impose quality standards on firms and individuals in the construction of buildings and housing clusters.
This research paper will focus on indicators related to the quality and effectiveness of laws that define construction standards, the strength of government oversight of buildings, and the quality of organizational capacity in this regard.
The score for dealing with construction permit is considered a key indicator internationally that assesses the quality of laws related to construction permits, including procedures, time, and cost. It measures the clarity and enforceability of laws, as well as the level of compliance. For example, difficulty and lack of clarity may indicate higher rates of non-compliance, corruption, evasion, or other practices aimed at circumventing or defrauding legal requirements.
This scale gives countries a score out of 100, with 0 being the lowest and 100 being the highest.
In this figure we see a comparison of six countries from around the world: Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey, Haiti, and Chile. What these countries have in common is that the six countries have faced the most natural disasters in the past two decades, meaning that the quality of buildings and the quality of their laws are critical to the preservation of societies.
The score for dealing with construction permit(Indonesiaو, Japan, Turkey, Haiti , Philippines)
Japan stands out globally for its comprehensive approach to disaster-resilient buildings, including logistical infrastructure, specifications, regulations and oversight. Japan maintains its lead in this critical area with a remarkable 83 percent score in the handling of building permits. By contrast, other countries surveyed typically score in the 60-70 percent range, a disparity that is particularly striking when compared to countries with less seismic exposure, such as Australia.
The score for dealing with construction permit(Indonesia, Turkey, Haiti , Australia)
Building quality control
The Building Quality Control Index is also a very important indicator, especially in the aforementioned countries, as it is the indicator that indicates the protection of the citizen from faulty construction practices, which may mean the liquidity of destruction or collapse of the building in the face of a natural disaster. A high number in this indicator indicates the strength of the law in regulating buildings, and the lack of corruption.
Building quality control index in (Philippines, Indonesia, Turkey)
Indonesia has taken the lead over both the Philippines and Turkey in the construction quality control index. Turkey's index occasionally falls behind the Philippines, a concerning trend exacerbated by a devastating earthquake less than two years ago. The significant loss of life in many Turkish cities was attributed to faulty construction practices, highlighting the critical role of stringent controls in mitigating casualties during natural disasters.
In this regard, a comparison can be made between Turkey and Australia, which is less prone to earthquakes than Turkey, where the difference between them in the index is clear, although Turkye made a leap in this context between 2018 and 2019.
Score-Building quality control index (Australia, Turkey)
