Abstract
Human society has always been threatened by natural disaster. Of old, these were perceived as
acts of God or as mystical forces. During the last decades, scholars realized that they were
caused by an incorrect adaptation of human life to the natural world, thereby making natural
hazards the terrain of, among others, urban planners. Since more people will be at risk from
natural hazards in the future, it is important for planners to integrate natural hazard mitigation
into common planning practice.
A literature review reveals the requirements for high quality natural hazard mitigation. Among
the most important demands are the need to embed mitigation in a comprehensive planning
program, the need to start the mitigation planning process as early as possible and the need for
public participation and full partnerships among government levels and institutions. Mitigation
plans require a strong factual basis in the form of a risk assessment.
In the US, the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA regulates many mitigation
programs and funds and aims to provide the impetus for state and local governments to include
natural hazard mitigation in their planning process. However, many FEMA policies actually
subsidize risk instead of minimizing it. The State of California established numerous natural
hazard mitigation programs. These programs have to be implemented by local governments but
unfortunately, the State lacks authority to enforce a strict enforcement of these regulations.
Local governments are therefore not encouraged enough to undertake effective mitigation
efforts.
A case study of Orange County and Los Angeles County shows that cities indeed do not
succeed to create effective natural hazard mitigation plans. This is truly regrettable, since both
counties are highly urbanized and located in a multi-hazard high-risk area. The potential losses
in case of a natural hazard event such as a major earthquake are enormous. Governments of all
levels should therefore start to focus more on effective natural hazard mitigation in order to
prevent future disasters.
ii
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