Sano, H; Chiba, Y; Maeda, S; Ikeda, C; Handa, N; Miura, S and Usuda, Y (2023) Survey on the dissemination of web-based information on "evacuation and sheltering" in the context of COVID-19 by the Japanese government. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 14(1), pp. 68-84. ISSN 1759-5916
Abstract
Purpose: This study examines the websites of central government ministries, prefectures and municipalities to obtain a comprehensive bird’s-eye view of how they are preparing for natural disasters in the context of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Design/methodology/approach: This study examines the websites of central government ministries, prefectures and municipalities in Japan to survey the actual status of information dissemination on “evacuation and sheltering” in the context of COVID-19. Findings: This study found that the central government issued many notices, notifications and administrative communications to prefectures, cities with public health centers and special wards, which were mainly related to opening, securing and operating evacuation centers and improving the environment. It was found that most prefectures disseminated information on both survival and living evacuation and did so from June onward, when the flood season was approaching. Among the municipalities, there were differences in information dissemination tendencies by prefecture, and it became clear that smaller municipalities were especially incapable of fully disseminating information via the Web. Research limitations/implications: The data from the prefectures and municipalities surveyed in this study were collected from websites and do not necessarily represent the actual response to disaster-related evacuation in the context of COVID-19 in those areas. To clarify this evacuation, more detailed surveys are needed. Originality/value: This study is unique because no research has been conducted on the response of Japanese administrative agencies to disaster-related evacuation in the context of COVID-19; the actual situation was analyzed in this study by examining central government ministries, prefectures and municipalities as administrative agencies and comparing their responses.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | covid-19; disaster prevention; evacuation; Japanese government; sheltering; web-based information |
| Index terms: | Japan, survey, natural disaster, COVID-19, disaster prevention, agency, municipality, dissemination, methodology, evacuation centre, information dissemination, public health, notices, outbreak, coronavirus, survival |
| Subjects: | environmental science, construction type, contractual role, data collection methods, research dissemination and communication, sociology, health conditions and diseases, environmental health, environmental hazards, administrative law, research methods, health risk and incident analysis, financial risk, knowledge translation, Geography |
| Topics: | Legal Issues, Contract Administration, Cost Management, Health and Safety, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Information Management, Construction Technology, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here