Exploring cyclone risk in vulnerable settlements: investigating community focussed landscape interventions.

Cyclones have long posed significant risk to cities, especially in vulnerable
coastal areas with substandard housing and inadequate infrastructure.
Speaking to the Pathway theme Cities, Environment, and Liveability, this
project explores how the intensity and frequency of tropical storm events
increases with warming ocean temperatures increasingly affect low-income
settlements, This project addresses the need for solutions to make such
settlements more resilient in the face of these disasters. In light of often
scarce resources in developing contexts, low-cost but effective solutions
should be prioritised. It will explore experimental solutions, e.g. artificial
reefs to minimise storm surge, solutions which involve recovery of what has
been lost including degraded coastal habitats, including mangroves and
marshes, and recovery of indigenous building practices evolved over
centuries of living with storms. For any solution to be successful in the
long-term, it needs to be widely accepted by the community and developed
in tandem with efforts to improve the liveability of those affected. Clearly
speaking to the Pathway theme, this project explores how innovation,
recovery, and community capacity building can help tackle environmental
challenges affecting large parts of the tropical world, seeking to both
directly help specific communities and create transferable and scalable
development models.