NEWS

2020.07.30

19th AJI Research Frontline Seminar on "Can Maps Help to Promote Better Understanding of a Community’s Disaster Evacuation Plan?”

The 19th AJI Research Frontline Seminar was held on June 16, 2020 online, and Kartika Puspita Sari (Doctoral Course, Graduate School of Policy Science, Ritsumeikan University) presented a report entitled "Can Maps Help to Promote Better Understanding of a Community’s Disaster Evacuation Plan?” She gave a quite interesting report on whether computer generated hazard maps could raise awareness among residents in disaster prone neighborhoods on frequent or severe disasters, evacuation contingency plans including evacuation routes, and evacuation sites.

Hazard maps for Sumber Village near Merapi Volcano in Magelang, Indonesia, where past evacuations had been managed poorly, were explained to the residents who were then questioned to verify their understanding of the new evacuation plans. However, despite this kind of successful cases, there are some issues over the fact that the maps can make people confused and give incorrect answers about evacuation routes. The presentation concluded with an enthusiastic discuss on why the maps had failed and how the system could be improved.

Kartika Puspita Sari giving her presentation