Page 253 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 2

Zerrin Toprak Karaman - Özlem Çakır - Meriç Aziz Berge

Social resilience is the capacity to resist the change caused by incidents
that disrupt the routine flow of life. According to Alberti et al, it is the ability of
the society to simultaneously balance urban ecosystems and human activities/
functions (Alberti et al, 2003). Resilient settlements should have the power
to eliminate the potential nature-induced or anthropogenic economic, socio-
cultural, institutional and political threats and the ability to recover from these
threats and render themselves sustainable. Urban and rural areas that can
face potential threats should be considered integrated. Undoubtedly, due
to their geographical features, the resilience of mountainous areas, coastal
areas, etc. within the given conditions requires practices towards participative
negotiations.
There is a need for multidisciplinary research on urban life quality
indicators, and the related issues, such as poverty, health, immigration,
cultural transformation, and the bioengineering of new products. Especially
for disadvantaged groups that usually fail to have themselves heard,
participating in transdisciplinary studies will provide a suitable area for raising
their concerns and joining decision making policy cycles.
Strong winds and storms require strategical thinking to render societies
resilient and avoid disasters with minimal damage through practices such as
anticipating change in sectoral integration and revision of settlement plans.
The crisis periods due to storms, whirlwinds, floods and overflows, are slowly
overtaking the perception of earthquakes. The recent climate conditions
lead to the connection between “fire and storm” as well as between “floods,
overflows and storms”. Storms existed throughout history, still exist today and
will continue to exist in increased rates in the future. In other words, storms
are a phenomenon that will increasingly have more place in our lives, and are
likely to have chaotic consequences.
Storm means rise in sea levels and high waves in coastal cities. They
threaten and damage buildings, agriculture-greenhouses, and livestock. Roofs
and additions on them such as antennas face the danger of flying off due to
storms. During severe storms, deaths and injuries especially in traffic are likely
to happen. Early warning system saves time and hence, it is important to have
an operational integrated institutional and public communication network,
which reveals the importance of urban resilience.
The issue of storm concerns many disciplines both individually and
collectively. The issue of preserving cultural heritage gains importance in terms
of strong winds. The risk and crisis analyses concerning the preservation of
cultural heritage concerns many “multidisciplinary” fields of science, including
sociology, economy, governance, geography, archeology, geographical
information systems, architecture, urban planning, and communication.

239 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate