By: Kristian Audri Gabriel
“The social and political element of fire is as important as its chemical element.“ These impactful words from Dr. Bankoff, spoken during the 9th episode of Resilience LIVE webinar, aired in the 29th of May 2024, captures the message of his presentation – Urban Fire as a Hazard and Urban Fire Regimes in Manila.
The episode featured Dr. Greg Bankoff, a research fellow at the Ateneo de Manila University and at the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute. His study focuses on how societies interrelate with their environments over time, especially the way people adapt the frequent hazards. Additionally, for the past thirty years, he focused his research primarily on Southeast and Central Asia, the Pacific and North Sea, seeking to understand how societies learn to normalize risk and how communities deal with crises.
Dr. Bankoff’s presentation highlighted the social and historical aspect of fire in the society, particularly in the context of Manila. Fire is viewed by society in terms of its structural and quantitative impacts such as burned buildings and facilities. However, Dr. Bankoff discussed how the society perceives fire in other cultural contexts, such as its uses for cooking, heat, and sacred and medicinal practices. He also highlighted the contrast between Intramuros and Extramuros (communities outside the walls of Intramuros) in Manila during the Spanish colonial period. Intramuros, as the colonial seat of power, adopted European architecture using less flammable materials whereas Extramuros used more flammable materials. After the Spanish colonial era ended and the population in Manila grew, these distinctions diminished, leading to the development of new central business areas outside Intramuros, forming what is now Metro Manila. In his presentation, Dr, Bankoff also mentioned that urban fire is the only ‘natural’ hazard initiated by humans and that it is not included as a hazard in the International Federation of Red Cross (TFRC) Annual World Disaster Report considering the massive destruction it can potentially cause.
During the presentation, Dr. Mahar Lagmay, the Executive Director of UP Resilience Institute, mentioned that the Institute is developing a project on urban fires and is in the process of formulating a framework for assessing urban fire risk. Given this, the timing and content of Dr. Bankoff’s presentation is especially significant as it urges researchers to view urban fire in a multi-dimensional manner when formulating assessment frameworks.
Resilience Live Episode 9 featuring Dr. Greg Bankoff may be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGDlI4SUyNg&t=1s
Mark your calendars! The next Resilience Live episode is scheduled for 27 June 2024, and will be conducted via Zoom conferencing. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for all the latest updates!