CHANGE IN INFRASTRUCTURE DENSITY Sample Clauses

CHANGE IN INFRASTRUCTURE DENSITY. The infrastructure density is accounted for in this model using data available for the population density and level of development of a country. These factors have been selected for several reasons. First of all, as population increases, the amount of infrastructure generally increases as well in order to accommodate the additional people. Therefore the change in population density is a good indicator of the infrastructure capacity in a region and is accounted for in the model as ∆P. Secondly, the type and quality of infrastructure in a region is vitally important because it affects water flow systems, and water is the primary trigger for slope instability. For instance, new buildings constructed to accommodate 1000 people could vary from one skyscraper to a large number of individual family dwellings. Although one skyscraper hardly increases the landslide frequency, 300 or so houses take up much more physical space and could have a drastic effect on the hydrological cycle. Furthermore, if any of these building are poorly constructed they are more susceptible to damage and can also cause even more slope instability, i.e. poor drainage systems can significantly decrease the shear strength of soil and increase levels of erosion. The development level is used to estimate the type and quality of infrastructure and is introduced into the model with the factor, Fdev. 3 The exposed population density within Europe ranges from 0.04 in Finland to 212 in Belgium to 4050 in Malta (due to minimal exposed land) with an average value of 67. • Development factor A high GDP per capita indicates that a country or region has the resources required to employ professionals and ensure that proper guidelines are followed when altering natural landscapes and creating or expanding developments. Similarly, wealthier regions are more likely to have large buildings and skyscrapers than poorer regions. However, this trend is not linear, as a country’s GDP per capita decreases the likelihood of it neglecting regulations increases at a faster rate because poor countries simply cannot afford to take all necessary precautions and often lack professional expertise, whereas moderate – medium countries can usually manage, and rich – very rich countries have minimal financial limitations. This logic was used as the basis for the following Fdev categorization. 6.5.1 GDP Classification and Corresponding Development Factor