Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development (DHSHD) of the Ministry of Construction of Myanmar. The scope of the collaboration defined in the memorandum covers ADPC’s technical assistance in risk-sensitive urban land-use planning, sharing good practices in disaster risk reduction, promoting disaster-resilient constructions in Myanmar, supporting capacity building at the national and local levels, and regularly exchanging technical and practical information.

Held on 18 November 2013 in Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar, the signature ceremony was witnessed by guests from various national government agencies including the Union Minister of the Ministry of Construction of Myanmar H.E. U Kyaw Lwin, as well as representatives from Mandalay City Development Committee (MCDC).

“The research- and training-oriented programs conducted in collaboration with international organizations are beneficial for the development of urban planning and housing in Myanmar as well as in building the capacity and human resources of all stakeholders at various levels,” said U Min Htein, Director General of the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development in his opening speech.

“Given the rapid urbanization in Myanmar, this is an ideal time to consider integrating disaster risk information into urban land-use planning initiatives,” stated Prof. Dr. Krasae Chanawongse, Executive Director of ADPC.

Creating guidelines to integrate disaster risk information into urban land-use planning

The project on Developing Guidelines for Integrating Disaster Risk Information in Urban Land-Use Planning for Mandalay was officially launched at the ceremony. The project, which was built upon the success of the earthquake risk assessment works in Mandalay by ADPC, aims at developing a feasible and implementable set of guidelines for integrating disaster risk information into future urban land-use planning initiatives.

Mandalay, the second most populous city in Myanmar and a city growing at a rapid pace, is selected as pilot city whose information will be used to steer the development of the urban land-use planning guidelines.