PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP FOR NATURAL HAZARD MITIGATION INVOLVING RETROFIT AND INSURANCE

Abstract

Public-private Partnerships (PPP) involving governments and insurers have been used globally in natural hazard mitigation. Yet high expense on building retrofit and catastrophe insurance still prevents government from providing effective mitigations. This thesis introduces a new framework that governments can utilize to motivate insurers to insure property owners with an affordable premium and receive a high proportion of reimbursement on retrofit investment. Two case studies in the thesis show a high feasibility of this partnership on hazard-prone areas and a higher total benefit than similar methods. The case study result indicates a wide feasibility of the proposed framework in risk mitigation of various natural hazards by providing building retrofit and catastrophe insurance incentive to property owners. This solution is likely to provide policymakers with a PPP program as a new tool for motivating the insurers and the property owners to undertake building retrofit and mitigation of natural disasters.