happening, it is possible to reduce their impacts by changing the built and social environment
to minimize vulnerability and exposure to these hazards, and thereby reduce disaster losses
(Godschalk e.a. 1999). With ever more people being threatened by natural hazards, whether by
an increasing population or by climate change, hazard mitigation will be an increasingly
important aspect of land use planning.
1.2 Research objectives and methodology
This paper will examine how natural hazard mitigation measures are applied in Southern
California. First, a literature review will investigate leading theories on natural hazard
planning, focusing on the effectiveness of mitigation. In other words; what requirements does
natural hazard mitigation have to meet in order to be effective in reducing natural hazard risks?
This question will be answered on the basis of two secondary questions:
• What mitigation measures are possible and how effective are they?
• How should natural hazard mitigation be applied within regular planning processes?
The institutional framework for natural hazard mitigation in the United States of America, and
California in particular, sets the conditions for local hazard mitigation efforts in Southern
California. It is therefore important to obtain an understanding of this framework. Questions
that will be answered are:
• What are the roles of the different levels of government and their institutions in natural
hazard mitigation?
• What are the goals of federal and state policies concerning natural hazard mitigation
and how are these policies implemented?
• How do these policies relate to the findings of the literature review?
Orange County and Los Angeles County, both in California, will be used as case studies. The
natural hazard mitigation elements of land use plans of these counties, and of some of the cities
therein, will be evaluated based on the conclusions of the literature study. This evaluation
reveals the position of natural hazard planning in common local planning practice and some
problems that occur therein.