Urban planning and tsunami impact mitigation in Chile after February 27, 2010

摘要

Urban and regional planning can and should be a crucial tool to mitigate the potentially devastating effects of a tsunami. This article analyzes the role of urban planning in mitigating the impact of tsunami in Chile, specifically in reaction to the Cobquecura tsunami of February 27, 2010. First, it examines the draft regulations and policies to reduce the impact of tsunami proposed at the national level in response to the 2010 socio-natural disaster. Then, it analyzes in detail tsunami mitigation measures developed at the local level in recent reconstruction plans for coastal towns and villages in the Regin del Maule and Regin del Bio Bio, based on semi-structured interviews and questionnaires realized with local and regional actors during 2011 and 2012. This article shows that there is a lack of guidance at the national level to mitigate the impact of tsunami and that mitigation policies are being developed mainly at the local level through non-binding coastal reconstruction plans, which focus strongly on "anti-tsunami" engineering solutions. Other available planning tools such as risk zone planning or relocation of housing and critical infrastructure have only been proposed in a few coastal reconstruction plans without adequate instruments for their implementation and lacking an active participation of citizens. Hence, a clear regulatory framework and set of urban policies is urgently required in Chile at the national and local level to reduce its vulnerability to tsunami.