LIRLAP

LIRLAP: Linking Disaster Risk Governance and Land-use Planning: the case of informal settlements in hazard-prone areas in the Philippines

Overview
The goal of LIRLAP is to develop, test, and apply knowledge-based solutions for upgrading and, if necessary, relocating highly vulnerable informal settlements in cities at high risk of disasters. Metro Manila serves as a pilot for the development and testing of approaches and their mainstreaming into concrete planning processes, as well as into regulations and practices of disaster management at all political levels. Within the project, the transfer of methods and planning tools to Bangkok and Hanoi is also carried out. Living labs, training courses, and a joint doctoral program serve to educate future generations of scientists and practitioners.
Core Aspects
LIRLAP consists of six work packages, two of which are led by LMU:
1. Risk trends and resettlement options with urban growth (LMU)
2. Resilient upgrading (TU Dortmund)
3. Resilient retreat (University of Stuttgart)
4. Mainstreaming upgrading and retreat strategies (LMU)
5. Capacity building (TU Dortmund)
6. Project management (TU Dortmund)
Our Role
We are involved in two work packages of the research project:
In Work Package 1, "Risk trends and relocation options in urban growth" we analyze the impact of future urban growth and densification processes in Metro Manila on the expansion of informal settlements and the availability of land for potential relocations.
Work Package 4, "Mainstreaming of upgrading and relocation strategies", develops a conceptual framework for mainstreaming the methods and recommendations for upgrading and retreat strategies developed in LIRLAP into urban planning and disaster management to ensure that LIRLAP insights are sustainably embedded in local policies.
Research Approach
To analyze the risk trends and relocation options in urban growth, a modeling and scenario approach will first be used to examine the impact of various factors. Secondly, it examines how urban growth affects the future availability and suitability of land for resettlement measures. It is assumed that such areas will become increasingly scarce due to the development pressure on the area. The SLEUTH model is used and further developed for the modeling. The underlying assumptions for the scenarios are worked out and defined on a transdisciplinary basis with stakeholders on site. The work of this sub-project supports the "future proofing" of the measures developed in the other work packages regarding the resettlement and upgrading of informal settlements.
To facilitate the mainstreaming of upgrading and relocation strategies into urban development planning, LMU first develops a practice-oriented conceptual framework that can guide decision-makers through a mainstreaming process. A systematic analysis of planning documents and legislative texts in Manila, Hanoi, and Bangkok, along with supplementary interviews, will serve to capture context conditions in order to identify specific mainstreaming entry points and tools for mainstreaming upgrading and relocation into local governance structures. For the pilot city Manila, these will be further developed into mainstreaming solutions together with stakeholders to ensure the long-term integration and implementation of resilient upgrading and relocation in Manila’s urban development.

Further information can be accessed here.