Inclusive urban development to reduce biological hazards and disaster risks

The document examines how inadequate waste management and unplanned urban growth in Bharatpur, Nepal, exacerbate biological hazards and disproportionately affect marginalized groups. It proposes the Framework for Integrating Rights and Equality (FIRE) to improve policy coherence across urban planning, public health, and disaster risk reduction.

• In Bharatpur, biological hazards are significantly driven by poor waste management, including infrequent municipal garbage collection and the use of riversides for landfills, which leads to illegal dumping and the contamination of the Narayani river.
• Biological risks are compounded by frequent flooding, which is exacerbated by government-licensed riverbed material extraction and a recently constructed dam that diverts water flow, leading to outbreaks of water-borne diseases like cholera and typhoid.
• Rapid, haphazard urban growth in Bharatpur has outpaced the provision of infrastructure and governance capacity, resulting in an incremental planning approach that primarily benefits the urban core while neglecting the periphery.
• Vulnerability to hazards is driven by structural inequalities, including tenure insecurity in informal settlements along riverbanks and social discrimination based on caste, gender, and ethnicity, which limits access to essential services.
• Marginalized communities, such as the Chepang Indigenous group, face significant barriers to accessing vital government information and decision-making processes, as evidenced by limited knowledge of Covid-19 vaccination and relief programmes.
• The authors recommend five policy shifts: increasing policy coherence and institutional coordination, addressing the differentiated impacts of hazards on various groups, boosting local government capacity and resources, customizing policies for peri-urban and rural areas, and ensuring meaningful community engagement for marginalized groups.

APA

Tran, M., Niraula, D., Pottinger-Glass, C., Khoza, S., Dhungana, G., & Nitsch, C. (2023). Inclusive urban development to reduce biological hazards and disaster risks. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/inclusive-urban-planning.pdf

Chicago

Tran, Minh, Devashree Niraula, Chloe Pottinger-Glass, Sizwile Khoza, Ganesh Dhungana, and Cynthia Nitsch. Inclusive urban development to reduce biological hazards and disaster risks. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2023. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/inclusive-urban-planning.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tran |first1=Minh |last2=Niraula |first2=Devashree |last3=Pottinger-Glass |first3=Chloe |last4=Khoza |first4=Sizwile |last5=Dhungana |first5=Ganesh |last6=Nitsch |first6=Cynthia |title=Inclusive urban development to reduce biological hazards and disaster risks |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=March 2023 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/inclusive-urban-planning.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tran2023inclusive, author = {Tran, Minh and Niraula, Devashree and Pottinger-Glass, Chloe and Khoza, Sizwile and Dhungana, Ganesh and Nitsch, Cynthia}, title = {{Inclusive urban development to reduce biological hazards and disaster risks}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/inclusive-urban-planning.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }