The effect of urbanization on sediment disasters

An aim of the study is to understand the effect of recent urbanization on the increase of sediment disasters. A case study was done in Nagasaki City and its vicinity, where a severe disaster had occurred in July 1982. The results of this study are summarized as follows: (1) The houses built in the first period locate on the relatively safe morphological units such as lower terrace and gentle foot slope. (2) The houses built in the second period intruded onto the rather risky morphological units; steep slope, valley floor and river bed. These units were not used as a residential area before. (3) The houses built in the last period are settled on the more risky area compared to older settled areas. However the demand for new housing land increased. Thus it was decided to develop the area risky to sediment disaster.