Infrastructure in cities of Saudi Arabia, - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal: Infrastructure in cities of Saudi Arabia. Aim: The research is intended to identify faults in the infrastructure of the cities of Saudi Arabia and improve the system’s resilience to enhance the system’s resistance to forces in extreme conditions. Objectives: This research will achieve the following objectives: 1. Study the existing infrastructure system of the cities of Saudi Arabia 2. Identify weaknesses and areas that need attention in the infrastructure of the cities of Saudi Arabia 3.

Devise strategies to help improve the resilience of the infrastructure system of the cities of Saudi Arabia 4. Estimate the time and cost required to enforce the strategy thus identified. Literature Review: Resilience is defined as a system’s ability to maintain its function while absorbing shocks (McDaniel et al, 2008, p. 310). Functionality of the systems of infrastructure including electric power, transportation networks and sewage system means a lot to the urban society (Chang , 2009a, p. 1). The present condition of infrastructure across the world is such that 20 per cent of the present population of the world does not have clean water (Kinver, 2006 cited in Milman and Short, 2008, p. 760). Damage to infrastructure causes great losses to the region.

In 1994, the Northridge highway that was damaged by earthquake caused a net loss of regional business worth $ 1.5 billion (Chang, 2009c). For long, it has been tried to design the infrastructure that could resist extreme forces. But since a couple of decades, engineers have started to make the systems of urban infrastructure resilient to natural disasters (NIST, 2008 cited in Chang, 2009b, p. 36). For natural hazards of extreme severity, it becomes extremely difficult for the structures to resist, though with correct design, resistance of the structures can be significantly increased (Minor, 2000, p. 5). The structural design, in turn, is dictated by the extent of resistance wanted against the natural hazards (Joint US-Taiwan Workshop, n.d., ).

In complex systems, Event Tree Analysis (ETA) is a very rational and most suitable method for conducting the risk analysis (Hoffman and Nilchiani, 2008, p. 48). Each of the several chronological steps of the events tree shows the probability for failure or success of all events that contribute to it. The frequency of occurrence of natural disasters in the past makes an excellent source of information for estimating the future patterns (Bibaka, 2009). Both public and private infrastructure should be applied the risk reduction measures on in order to achieve a comprehensive resilient system (South Pacific Engineers Association, 2010, p. 2), because making the system resilient is the fundamental way to minimize the probability of failure (Tierney and Brunaeu, 2007).

The resilient system is based upon active (self-protective) and passive (structural) defenses (Sterbenz et al., 2010, p. 1254). “This push to incorporate resiliency principles into systems of planning and design has been undertaken in many cities in the context of widespread urban revitalization” (Coaffee, 2008, p. 4635). In addition to other factors, leadership plays an important role in improving the disaster resilience (Wilkins and McCarthy, 2009, p. 7). References: Bibaka, D 2009, The importance of Building Resilience and Preparedness beforehand, through Coordination , capacity building and Integration of different water and sanitation interventions for disaster response, IWA: First Development Congress Mexico City.

Coaffee, J 2008, Risk, resilience, and environmentally sustainable cities, Energy Policy 36: 4633–4638. Chang, SE, 2009a, Infrastructure Resilience to Disasters, pp. 1-4, Frontiers of Engineering Symposium Session on “Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructures”. Chang, SE 2009b, Infrastructure Resilience to Disasters, The Bridge National Academy of Engineering. Chang, SE 2009c, Infrastructure Resilience to Disasters, Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, Irvine, CA. University of British Columbia.

Hoffman, J, and Nilchiani, R 2008, Assessing Resilience in the U.S National Energy Infrastructure, pp. 1-60, COMPASS White Paper Series 2008-02, Center for Complex Adaptive Sociotechnological Systems, Stevens Institute of Technology, March 2008. Joint US-Taiwan Workshop n.d., Building and Infrastructure Resilience: Strategies for Disaster Reduction in Emergency Response, Recovery, and Rebuilding. McDaniels, T, Chang, S, Cole, D, Mikawoz, J, and Longstaff, H 2008, Fostering resilience to extreme events within infrastructure systems: Characterizing decision contexts for mitigation and adaptation, Global Environmental Change 18: 310-318.

Milman, A, and Short, A 2008, Incorporating resilience into sustainability indicators: An example for the urban water sector, Global Environmental Change 18: 758-767. Minor, HE 2000, General Remark and Summary, Coping study on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, United Nations: IDNDR. South Pacific Engineers Association 2010, Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Management, Policy Document, pp. 1-4. Sterbenz, JPG, Hutchinson, D, Cetinkaya, EK, Jabbar, A, Rohrer, JP, Scholler, M, and Smith, P 2010, Resilience and survivability in communication networks: Strategies, principles, and survey of disciplines, Computer Networks 54: 1245-1265.

Tierney, K, and Bruneau, M 2007, Conceptualizing and Measuring Resilience: A Key to Disaster Loss Reduction, TR News 250. Wilkins, R, and McCarthy, M 2009, National Strategy for Disaster Resilience: Building our nation’s resilience to disasters, National Emergency Management Committee.