Natural Hazard Assessment for Land-use Planning in Serbia

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

1 University of Belgrade, Faculty of Geography, the Institute for the Environment and GIS, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

2 University of Belgrade, Faculty of Geography, the Institute for Spatial Planning, Belgrade, Serbia

3 University of Belgrade, Faculty of Forestry, Department of ecological engineering of soil and water resources protection, Belgrade, Serbia

4 University of Belgrade, Faculty of Geography, the Institute for Geography, Belgrade, Serbia

5 University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mining and Geology, Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract

The territory of Serbia is vulnerable to various types of natural hazards and the risk is not equal
across the entire territory; it varies depending on the type of hazard and the expected potential for damage.
The first aim of this research was to determine the geographical distributions of the major types of natural
hazards. Seismic hazards, landslides, rock falls, floods, torrential floods, excessive erosion, droughts and forest
fires are the most significant natural hazards within the territory of Serbia. Areas vulnerable to some of these
natural hazards were singled out using analytical maps; their area relative to the total area of Serbia was
defined, along with the total surface area that is vulnerable to each type of natural hazard. Upper intensity
values for single natural hazards were measured; these values represent the limiting factor for land-use planning
at the given level. Based on these analyses, an integral map of the natural hazards of the territory was created
using multi-hazard assessment. Hence, a recent state of the natural hazard vulnerabilities of the territory of
Serbia was created and then an integral map was made. The integral map showed spatial distribution of the
different types of hazards that are considered to be limiting factors for the highest level of land-use planning.
The results presented in this article are the first multi-hazard assessment and the first version of the integral
map of natural hazards distribution in Serbia for land-use planning, which is important both nationally and
regionally.

Keywords

International Journal of Environmental Research
Volume 5, Issue 2
April 2011
Pages 371-380

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