Philippines: Designing disaster-resilient communities

Dr. Gavin Smith, executive director of the Center of Natural Hazards and Disasters of the Thomas Jefferson Information Center, University of North Carolina, gave an explanation on the disaster-resilient community notion to the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners (PIEP) faced with the reality that more communities worldwide are at risk, says the Philippine Star. "I always use ‘natural hazard’ instead of ‘disaster’ because disasters are a human construct", said Dr. Smith.