Exploring disaster risk reduction in the built environment

The purpose of this paper is to review the role of construction industry and built environment disciplines in disaster risk reduction. There is much evidence to show that every year natural disasters cause a substantial amount of damage throughout the whole world. This brought forward the importance of disaster risk reduction to prevent or mitigate the adverse impacts of disasters. The construction industry has a strong relationship with disaster management and therefore there is a high need in identifying how the construction industry and its related disciplines can contribute towards disaster risk reduction. Therefore the paper focuses on the role of the construction industry and the built environment professionals in disaster risk reduction. The literature review method has been used to address this emerging topic and therefore the paper is based on the academic literature, journal and conference papers and reports produced by various institutions.The review of literature reveals that there is a clear relationship between disaster risk reduction and the built environment disciplines. It has been identified that the construction industry and built environment professionals have a significant role to play in disaster risk reduction in both pre and post disaster situations. The risk reduction strategies can be incorporated in to all phases of construction projects, including planning, designing, construction and maintenance in addition to town and country planning and policy making.