Smart City and Coastal Disaster Management

Cities that are located in coastal areas face a particular challenge due to the changing climate. Sea level rise, storm surges and floods are just some of the disastrous phenomena that threaten coastal cities. With the advancement of technology, devising ICT in the Disaster Management System has become widely prevalent for city government. Yet, Tonmoy et al. (2020) through analysis of case studies from coastal cities, indicates that the efforts have substantial room for improvement. 

For example, many cities utilise the technology only until the early warning system without significant analysis of data that are taken from the sensors. Tonmoy et al. suggests that cities must move beyond this stage and explore more on how the data that are taken over the course of a period can be used to support the process of preparing, managing and recovering from coastal disaster. The study also found a common barrier in effective coastal disaster management in cities where the system is isolated within certain government agencies. Future development in this issue must ensure that coastal disaster management is a system that could go through the very often rigid and hierarchical urban governance.  

Reference:

Tonmoy, F. N., Hasan, S., & Tomlinson, R. (2020). Increasing Coastal Disaster Resilience Using Smart City Frameworks: Current State, Challenges, and Opportunities. Frontiers in Water, 2, 3.