Integration of disaster management strategies with planning and designing public open spaces

Public open spaces (POS) are often used as a strategy to enhance cities’ sustainability while using it as a mode to improve the quality of life, aesthetic beauty, environmental health, economic growth and to increase the walkability, live ability and vitality of cities. However, sustainable development should comprise the improvements of disaster resilience. Moreover, past disaster events evidence that these POS have a significant potential to contribute to disaster management as a primary place to rescue and for shelters, as an agent of recovery, to provide essential life support and potential for adaptive response. Yet, lack of attempts have been made to harness this potential through the integration of disaster management strategies into planning and designing POS in cities. Accordingly, this ongoing research study aims to find out the innovative planning and designing methods, integrated with disaster management strategies to plan and design POS in cities. Accordingly, this research paper analyses the existing literature investigating the usage of POS in past disaster events and cross-compare the identified disaster management strategies with the sustainable planning and design strategies. Finally, the findings present five main approaches to integrate the disaster management strategies into planning and designing public open spaces.