Decision–Support System Portal as a tool for mainstreaming DRR into urban decision making

Recent disasters such as Super Storm Sandy, the Haitian Earthquake and extensive floods across the United Kingdom have highlighted the fragility of cities to a range of hazards and threats thus emphasizing the increasing importance of resilience and disaster risk reduction (DRR) and the influences of such concepts upon the management of the built environment. While this makes the role of planning, design and construction stakeholders crucial in implementing the principles of DRR, tensions exist regarding the extent to which DRR measures should be implemented during planning, design and construction process; in particular who should be responsible for the implementation of such measures. This paper presents a web-based Decision-Support System Portal (DSSP) developed during a four-year European Union-funded project which is examining the design and planning of safer urban spaces. Central to the project is an integrated security and resilience (ISR) design framework that engages local stakeholders for identifying vulnerabilities and improving urban spaces with respect to ‘security threats’. The DSSP helps end-users better understand the vulnerabilities and design possibilities of the proposed site by allowing users to pursue decision-support scenarios of secure urban design and planning.