Abstract:
Bangladesh is located in a disaster-prone region. The Bay of Bengal generates storms
which regularly hit the coastal areas of Bangladesh, leaving behind trails of
devastations. Though there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of people being
killed, all cyclones have caused huge material damages. Past disaster management
policies only concentrated upon life saving strategies, but not in a comprehensive
manner, that is by incorporating all possible measures such as guided land
development, land use planning, disaster resistant housing, cyclone shelter, disaster
preparedness, mitigation measures, etc. It must be kept in mind that disaster affects men
and women differently. Women, children, aged and the physically challenged are
generally more affected than men and are over represented in the number of deaths.
The principal aim of this thesis was to prepare a gender sensitive planned rural
settlement by examines the existing situation of cyclone affected areas in terms of
socioeconomic condition, infrastructure and housing condition. The thesis tried to relate
socioeconomic condition, housing condition, settlement pattern, and vulnerability to
cyclone. To attain the objectives, three study areas (Sarankhola Upazila, Urir Char
Union and Char Madras Union) had been selected in diverse location of the coastal
region of Bangladesh so that they can represent the actual coastal characteristic of the
country and found that a gender sensitive approach to housing construction may indeed
alleviate cyclone damages and loss of lives.
Disaster mitigation should be an imperative for sustainable development as well as a
topic for gender sensitive strategies. As already evident, cyclone shelter can never be
the only solution for disaster risk reduction and management; disaster reduction
policies and measures should aim at building disaster resilient communities to
withstand natural hazards with aims to reduce the level of risk by ensuring that
development efforts do not increase the vulnerability from these hazards. The
traditional approach to disaster mitigation is mostly relief and rehabilitation oriented
and, almost always, post-disaster measures oriented, but this has to be changed. It was
seen that houses made of temporary materials in non-engineered manner, are more
prone to damages, whereas some improved technologies may enable houses to
withstand the ferocity of cyclones and thus save its inhabitants. This thesis advocates
that improved building design and technologies and planned settlements may reduce
the impact of cyclone in a significant level for those who are vulnerable in the society,
especially women, children, aged and the physically challenged.
