Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Community Participation into Sustainable Settlement Design Frameworks through Deductive Content Analysis

Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Community Participation into Sustainable Settlement Design Frameworks through Deductive Content Analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Community Participation into Sustainable Settlement Design Frameworks through Deductive Content Analysis Aradhna Moktan, Sharmistha Banerjee, Anamika Barua This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9097430/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Sustainable settlement design frameworks (SSDFs) have received limited scholarly attention regarding their integration of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and community involvement (CI) dimensions, despite the compounding pressures of rapid urbanization, climate change, and population growth. This study aims to analyze how strategies of DRR and CI are represented in existing SSDFs, an area that remains underexplored in the literature. A deductive content analysis was conducted on 10 selected SSDFs, applying Dimitrova and Snair’s integrated DRR framework and Arnstein’s ladder of citizen participation as analytical lenses. The analysis yielded 231 codes organized into 11 thematic categories. Inter-coder reliability was established through Krippendorff’s alpha (α ≥ 0.95 across all coder pairs). Results reveal that DRR strategies are unevenly distributed across the examined SSDFs: hazard corrective (Haz-cor) and hazard prospective (Haz-pro) strategies are most prevalent, whereas vulnerability prospective (Vul-pro), vulnerability compensatory (Vul-com), and exposure prospective (Exp-pro) strategies are significantly underrepresented. Community involvement is predominantly operationalized through tokenistic participation (consultation and informing) rather than genuine citizen empowerment. Based on these findings, we propose an integrated model that embeds DRR and community participation into sustainable settlement design through a systems-thinking approach, incorporating balanced compensatory, prospective, and corrective outlooks toward hazard, exposure, and vulnerability, alongside temporal-scale considerations. The proposed model offers a conceptual framework for urban planners, researchers, and policymakers seeking to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of settlement design. Disaster risk mitigation Climate adaptation Sustainable urban design Policy Analysis Resilience building Systems thinking Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplementary.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 18 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 06 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 May, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 30 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 30 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 28 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 25 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 25 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9097430","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":615082047,"identity":"1fb81cdc-fdb1-475b-b1c4-50916ab81869","order_by":0,"name":"Aradhna Moktan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aradhna","middleName":"","lastName":"Moktan","suffix":""},{"id":615082048,"identity":"28a4c773-dfc3-4fa3-8481-0fc53ebde905","order_by":1,"name":"Sharmistha Banerjee","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA50lEQVRIie2OMQoCMRBFZ1nQZsE2NnqFkS1E8DARQZsIgq0GwcLGAwheQvACAwFtFmxTWCjCVjZqY2FholYWWbcTzCNMEf6b+QAezy/C7ED7QiL+/qRvFIZQ4MT51wpYJTK3uDP7orqYpBfdl7JeTM50uI2gNKVA9R0K7tbxQqBijVlvaYptgCUc1NylMB6HAokhPZU1gAZQkavYvHs1imS4Pe2fSjVLAS3slZChFmCUIWCWYpIDo6jyUqdIvENRLWmNs4qtQnGXJdy2j+dbU1YqG6WuzmIf2P3BOIcAIHOlPR6P5z94AAPuUgiLIfXAAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sharmistha","middleName":"","lastName":"Banerjee","suffix":""},{"id":615082049,"identity":"1be49c46-cfbe-491f-9374-70fd039aff69","order_by":2,"name":"Anamika Barua","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anamika","middleName":"","lastName":"Barua","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-11 18:38:10","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9097430/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9097430/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105889062,"identity":"41ee73dc-88ad-4052-b2cf-9dc29cbdaa82","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-01 07:46:53","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":855758,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9097430/v1_covered_abe82698-448e-4692-982b-d2529e0e2bac.pdf"},{"id":105889013,"identity":"48a84dec-d77c-47fc-9d98-fd7bbb698862","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-01 07:46:47","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":279923,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Supplementary.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9097430/v1/425d21b103544c64adec5618.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Community Participation into Sustainable Settlement Design Frameworks through Deductive Content Analysis","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-sustainability","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"disu","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Sustainability](https://www.springer.com/43621)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Discover Sustainability","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Disaster risk mitigation, Climate adaptation, Sustainable urban design, Policy Analysis, Resilience building, Systems thinking","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9097430/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9097430/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSustainable settlement design frameworks (SSDFs) have received limited scholarly attention regarding their integration of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and community involvement (CI) dimensions, despite the compounding pressures of rapid urbanization, climate change, and population growth. This study aims to analyze how strategies of DRR and CI are represented in existing SSDFs, an area that remains underexplored in the literature. A deductive content analysis was conducted on 10 selected SSDFs, applying Dimitrova and Snair\u0026rsquo;s integrated DRR framework and Arnstein\u0026rsquo;s ladder of citizen participation as analytical lenses. The analysis yielded 231 codes organized into 11 thematic categories. Inter-coder reliability was established through Krippendorff\u0026rsquo;s alpha (α\u0026thinsp;\u0026ge;\u0026thinsp;0.95 across all coder pairs). Results reveal that DRR strategies are unevenly distributed across the examined SSDFs: hazard corrective (Haz-cor) and hazard prospective (Haz-pro) strategies are most prevalent, whereas vulnerability prospective (Vul-pro), vulnerability compensatory (Vul-com), and exposure prospective (Exp-pro) strategies are significantly underrepresented. 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