Framing spatial decision-making and disaster management in time

Abstract

Indubitably, information and communication technologies, amongst which geographic information systems, can help in the management of disasters. Yet, there are just one element which has to interact with the other ingredients. Hence, their presence should be well-thought in order to avoid hindering the return to a normal situation, or worse, enhancing the effects of the disasters. By taking a spatial information science perspective, this contribution broadens the debate from technical issues to conceptual ones. It first identifies decision-making as being a major topic of interest for both disaster management and geographic information. After defining the concepts of 'spatial decision', 'disaster', 'risk', 'crisis' and the purpose of 'plans', this paper puts forward a framework for considering these concepts and the decision-making processes in time. By combining, in this perspective, the different concepts, a typology of disaster situations can be established and hence corresponding technological solutions or needs can be pointed out. © 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.