HENG Salpiseth, PhD Research Proposal
April 17, 2012
1. What are the potential risks of climate change posed on the existing urban transport system? 2. What are the feasible adaptation options for each mode of urban transport system? 3. What are the economic consequences and cost-benefit tradeoffs of action versus inaction? 4. How to incorporate most feasible adaptive options into system planning to achieve a better Business Continuity Plan However, considering the limitation of study period, the study will focus mainly on the road network whereas the other modes of urban transport system will be recommended for future study. The study will particularly stress on optimizing the most feasible options in the resilient road network planning considering a better Business Continuity Plan in the process. The impacts of climate change on road network in Cambodia will be examined as a case study in this research. c. Research Objectives The research objectives are: - to explore what and how adaptation actions should be considered in urban transport system planning, project development, operations and maintenance and what are the variables and technical requirements to support feasible and effective risk management responses in Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) - to establish a versatile model optimizing the most appropriate adaptation actions for a resilient urban transport system in the Greater Mekong Sub-region Adaptation measures are needed both to resist disruption and to recover rapidly afterwards. Therefore, these responses need to foster the resilience of the urban transport system through strengthening of the robustness of the system and the rapidity of recovery after experiencing with extreme climate events. The study would serve as a resource for professionals involved in transportation decision-making processes. d. Significance and Innovation The innovation and merits of the study are: - The formulated optimization model that this research will develop aims to provide decision makers with useful information on the feasible investment in climate adaptation actions in planning for a resilient urban transport system. - Predicted risks and possible diaster Hazard Maps as well as appropriate adaptation options are to be identified for the transport network in the studied Mekong Region. - A real Cambodian road transport network, which is part of the Asian/ASEAN Highway No.1 and GMS southern economic corridor connecting Bangkok–Phnom Penh–Hochiminh, is to be tested with the studied model. What is more, the study would contribute to decision making on how to incorporate disaster (risk) management issues in the transport and logistic sectors in order to improve quality of life and maintain economic growth. For instance, year 2011 was considered a special one for Japan’s and some ASEAN countries’s disaster history. During the Recent ASEAN-Japan Adhoc Expert Meeting for Cooperation on Disaster Prevention in the Transport Sector in March 2012, each ASEAN Country member state and Japan shared lessons learned from the past natural disasters and their experience and prepareness for disaster response, particularly on the implications of disasters for transport infrastructures. Business Continuity Plan (BCP) for the Transport Sector is one of the major discussion topics. It is recognized that risk management against natural disasters should be introduced Page 2 of 5