Publication: Using Building Regulations to Lower Risks from Disasters and Strengthen Private Sector Resilience
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2025-10-27
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2025-11-17
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Using data from the World Bank Business Ready (B-READY) 2024 project and the United Nations University’s World Risk Index (WRI), this Brief finds that streamlined, transparent building regulations can lower disaster risks across income levels, primarily by enhancing economies’ capacities to anticipate, prepare for, recover, and learn from natural shocks. is also helps _rms reduce disruptions to their operations. Yet building regulations alone are not enough. Accessible public services (such as digital platforms, hazard mapping, and simplified permitting processes) are essential enablers that lower the cost of compliance with regulations, encourage adherence, and help make buildings safer and more resilient. Together, sound and effectively enforced regulations and public service delivery foster a private sector and a business environment that is more resilient to disasters, which, in turn, promotes long-term, sustainable economic growth. The Brief emphasizes that building regulations are not just a preventive measure but a vital adaptation strategy that helps economies become disaster-ready and also more attractive to investors.
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“Cardenas, Gina; Biasiucci, Giovanni. 2025. Using Building Regulations to Lower Risks from Disasters and Strengthen Private Sector Resilience. Policy Indicators Briefs; No. 36. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/43989 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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