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Kodag et al. Dis Prev Res 2023;2:12 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/dpr.2023.11 Page 9 of 16

to the growing residential use, while 20% participants disagree, and 5% participants are unsure.
Additionally, almost 80% of the participants feel that mixed landuse will increase as proposed by smart city
initiatives, 15% participants disagree, and 5% participants are skeptical about the impact of smart city
initiatives on mixed landuse. The real estate market in the city is experiencing exponential growth with high
property rates for residential and commercial landuse. This forces the poor communities to occupy
hazardous and illegal locations, such as low-lying areas, steep hill slopes, and river banks, as they have no
affordable and safe options in the city. The participants have rated this component high for disaster risks.

Roads
The smart city initiative intends to beautify the city by extending the pedestrian pathways and furnishing it
with street accessories, resulting in a reduction of carriageways of roads and roadside parking. Pune city is
famous for the number of private vehicles on the road. Fifty percent of participants feel the carriage width of
the roads has reduced the traffic carrying capacity of the roads, while 40% feel beautification has added
value, so it is justified, and 10% participants are unsure about the reduction of carriageways. The traffic jams
and travel time on roads make the participants dubious, and they have rated the risk as medium for this
indicator. Nearly 50% participants feel positive about the beautification of the walkways, while 25%
participants are skeptical about the vendor encroachments, and another 25% are not sure if it actually helps
pedestrians. Most of the surveyed participants, 90%, feel traffic density on roads will increase, while only 7%
participants disagree, and 3% are skeptical. The risk due to traffic density is rated high by the participants,
especially considering their experiences of traffic jams, longer travel times, and road accidents. Nearly 70%
of participants agree that surface drainage systems are inadequate, causing water logging in the monsoon
months, while 20% blame the issue on heavy precipitation, and 10% participants are unsure about the risk it
creates. The citizens are aware of the past two heavy precipitation events that flooded the city, resulting in
disruptions to normal functioning and loss of life. Water logging is a common phenomenon during the
monsoons, which prompts citizens to demand appropriate surface drainage systems. The disaster risk from
urban flooding is high. Almost 50% of participants feel that road safety will be compromised due to the
beautification of roads resulting in blind spots and accidents, while 20% participants disagree, and 30%
participants have an ambiguous response to this indicator. According to some participants, the smart city
initiatives, along with other road development works, have focused on beautifying roads instead of safety on
roads. As a result, the overall risk factor of this component is high.

Open spaces
The rapid built development and increasing land prices in the city have stressed the open spaces. Citizens
acknowledge the scarcity of the open spaces in the form of public gardens and playgrounds available and
accessible to all. Hence, 60% participants feel there are no adequate public gardens, 20% participants
disagree, and 20% participants are not sure about the importance of public gardens. The inadequacy of open
spaces can worsen the impact of disasters. The green cover and biodiversity contributed by the open spaces
are important for the sustenance of the city; the lack of open spaces would make the city more vulnerable to
hazards, marking it as medium on the risk scale. Open spaces in the form of playgrounds are non-
negotiable resources for the city; however, these resources are currently only available to a few organizations
and individuals in their personal domains. Almost 80% participants feel there are negligible public
playgrounds for the children, while 15% participants feel there are paid sports facilities available, and 5% are
not sure about the availability of public playgrounds, rating it high risk. The stress on land is high, with very
few open land parcels remaining; hence, 30% participants feel there are limited undeveloped public open
spaces for future use, 60% participants feel undeveloped space in public and private sectors could be
converted to public use, while 10% participants are not sure. The lack of open spaces can be an
encumbrance in disaster response and recovery. However, the survey participants rated the risk for this
indicator as medium.