Abstract

The extreme change of climate has recently influenced numerous cities around the world. This change has resulted in a higher frequency and increased intensity of natural disasters. Habitat and development types even cause complex disaster types. In 2005, the report of Natural Disaster Hotspots-A Global Risk Analysis declared that 73% of world population and land area are exposed to more than three types of natural disasters. Ninety-nine percent of the land area and population are exposed to natural disasters worldwide. These above records are much higher than those of other countries worldwide. Taiwanese people face high risks of natural disasters. The present study attempts to look into sustainable development policies that seek to prevent disasters through an expert questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire are further analysed with methodologies of the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) and analytic network process (ANP). The analyses suggest that disaster prevention strategies should be prioritised in urban planning, accounting for the effects of climate change. In addition to disaster prevention and mitigation, pre-disaster preparation in daily life is critical because it ensures the execution of appropriate emergency responses in the event of a disaster. Although the current mainstream environmental policy emphasises non-structural mitigation, conventional structural mitigation remains imperative. By and large, the priority of disaster prevention strategy in Taiwan must be land use management and planning, as well as the public advocacy and training. View Full-Text