Laying the groundwork for social and physical spatial analysis in post-disaster scenarios

Abstract

Planning for post-disaster management is a major task that cannot be elicited from reactive action to the factual incidence per se but through proactive preparedness years in advance. Following an extensive six-year analysis of the requirements for spatial data enhancement in the physical, social and natural environments, the Maltese Islands have acquired a comprehensive set of data that will serve as a basis for cross-thematic research. Though initially targeted at the natural environmental themes, the exercise has widespread operational implications that go beyond these domains but spread into other far-reaching domains, including disaster-management, security and safety.