Abstract
Understanding how urban communities perceive climate change-induced flood disasters help determine how these communities are resilient. This paper provides a case study on some of Sri Lanka’s most flood-prone areas: Kolonnawa and Kaduwela divisional secretariat divisions (DSDs) of Colombo. We conducted field surveys and a questionnaire survey among 120 community members in these divisions. The collected questionnaire data were then analyzed partly through multiple regression analysis. The results of our analysis helped us identify the different levels of climate change-induced disaster vulnerability and resilience by areas within DSDs. Overall, our respondents regarded flood incidents as high risk disaster to their livelihoods, but some communities appeared to have higher coping strategies than others do. Through multiple regression analysis, we found that education, income, household structure, distance to flood source, and flood frequency had direct correlations with the degree of flood resilience and vulnerability. We then examined residents’ flood experience in Sedawatta, the most vulnerable place in the study areas, to see if our multiple regression analysis results are substantially confirmed by our field observation. We confirmed that their education, income, age and housing type had significantly influenced their perceptions. We further examined other places and compared our observation with the multiple regression analysis. In conclusion, our paper discusses how these results can better inform policies in terms of disaster preparation and adaptation in the future.
Presenters
Vindya HewawasamStudent, PhD Candidate, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan Kenichi Matsui
Associate Professor, Sustainable Environmental Studies, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Human Impacts and Responsibility
KEYWORDS
FLOOD VULNERABILITY, RESILIENCE, COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION, SRI LANKA, COLOMBO, CLIMATE DISASTER, URBAN RESILIENCE
