Abstract

Internationally, there is increasing concern with the development of improved ways of dealing with disasters (UNISDR, 2015). Wildfires (also called bushfires in Australia) bring about greater disaster risks at the urban-rural interface of wildfire prone areas, where lives and properties are more exposed. Usually, these risks are even greater in contexts of informality, where settlements have been built with little consideration of risks. The aim of this paper is to report on the production of guidelines to develop resilience to wildfires for communities living in informal settlements exposed to wildfire risk. The investigation is approached through action research. It is the result of a collaboration that took place between academics, public servants, professionals and community representatives of Agüita de la Perdiz in Concepcion Chile, within the context of the seminar ‘Prevention of Forest Fire Risks in Urban Settlements and Buildings: a Planning and Design Approach’ organized by the Universidad del Biobío and the Nodo the Arquitectura Sustentable in Chile and facilitated by experts from the University of Melbourne and Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (BNHCRC) from Australia. Agüita de la Perdiz is an interesting case because it is an informal settlement with ongoing wildfire risk where the local community is engaged in mitigation activities. The product of the seminar and the participants’ discussions and analysis were condensed in a set of guidelines structured in two main sections: (1) general principles that influence the behaviour of fire and house destruction; and (2) applying the principles by analysing wildfire risk and developing a design response. The first section describes the key elements that influence fire behaviour in a typical forest and how this translates to principles of house destruction. The second section elaborates on understanding risks at different scales and on identifying likely fire behaviour in a specific location and context. This then forms the basis for development of a design response that identifies key actions for houses, the site, and settlement improvement and community development for house and community survival. These guidelines – and the process of producing them – will contribute to the dissemination of knowledge about general design and planning strategies to mitigate wildfire risk, as well as to build local capacities. Furthermore, it is argued that the collaborative process undertaken to develop the guidelines is replicable in other places to address context specific issues. The report was written in lay-language, generally accessible to a wider audience, and is complemented by clear graphics that communicate core principles. This case demonstrates that there are certain core scientific, methodological and professional principles that can be transferred to other settings. However, understandings of the range of locally particular aspects of hazards and resultant risks need to be developed locally, in parallel with solutions themselves that are relevant to local communities. This is particularly relevant in the case of informal settlements with a strong desire to maintain local autonomy, while maximising the benefits of local municipal assistance in terms of legal, financial and coordination facilitation.