Projects implemented under life cycle contracts have become increasingly common in recent years to ensure the quality of construction and maintenance of energy infrastructure facilities. A key parameter for energy facility construction projects implemented under life cycle contracts is their duration and deadlines. Therefore, the systematic identification, monitoring, and comprehensive assessment of risks affecting the timing of work on the design and construction is an urgent practical task. The purpose of this work is to study the strength of the influence of various risks on the duration of a project implemented on the terms of a life cycle contract. The use of the expert assessment method allows for identifying the most likely risks for the design and construction phases, as well as determining the ranges of deviations from the baseline indicator. Using the obtained expert evaluations, a model reflecting the range and the most probable duration of the design and construction works under the influence of risk events was built by the Monte-Carlo statistical method. The results obtained allow monitoring and promptly detecting deviations in the actual duration of work from the basic deadlines set in the life cycle contract. This will give an opportunity to accurately respond to emerging risks and build a mutually beneficial relationship between the parties to life cycle contracts.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and poses a severe public health problem. Nigeria has the highest number of global cases. Geospatial technology has been widely used to study the risks and factors associated with malaria hazards. The present study is conducted in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The objective of this study is to map out areas that are at high risk of the prevalence of malaria by considering a good number of factors as criteria that determine the spread of malaria within Ibadan using open-source and Landsat remote sensing data and further analysis in GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation (MCE). This study considered factors like climate, environmental, socio-economic, and proximity to health centers as criteria for mapping malaria risk. The MCE used a weighted overlay of the factors to produce an element at-risk map, a malaria hazard map, and a vulnerability map. These maps were overlaid to produce the final malaria risk map, which showed that 72% of Ibadan has a risk of malaria prevalence. Identification and delineation of risk areas in Ibadan would help policymakers and decision-makers mitigate the hazards and improve the health status of the state.

This paper presents a brief review of risk studies in Geography since the beginning of the 20th century, from approaches focused on physical-natural components or social aspects, to perspectives that incorporate a systemic approach seeking to understand and explain risk issues at a spatial level. The systemic approach considers principles of interaction between multiple variables and a dynamic organization of processes, as part of a new formulation of the scientific vision of the world. From this perspective, the Complex Systems Theory (CST) is presented as the appropriate conceptual-analytical framework for risk studies in Geography. Finally, the analysis and geographic information integration capabilities of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based on spatial analysis are explained, which position it as a fundamental conceptual and methodological tool in risk analysis from a systemic approach.

This paper assesses South Africa’s massive infrastructure drive to revive growth and increase employment. After years of stagnant growth, this is now facing a deep economic crisis, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This drive also comes after years of weak infrastructure investment, widening the infrastructure deficit. The plan outlines a R1 trillion investment drive, primarily from the private sector through the Infrastructure Fund over the next 10 years (Government of South Africa, 2020). This paper argues that while infrastructure development in South Africa is much-needed, the emphasis on de-risking for private sector buy-in overshadows the key role the state must play in leading on structurally transforming the economy.

Fire, a phenomenon occurs in most parts of the world and causes severe financial losses, even, irreparable damages. Many parameters are involved in the occurrence of a fire; some of which are constant over time (at least in a fire cycle), but the others are dynamic and vary over time. Unlike the earthquake, the disturbance of fire depends on a set of physical, chemical, and biological relations. Monitoring the changes to predict the occurrence of fire is efficient in forest management. Method: In this research, the Persian and English databases were structurally searched using the keywords of fire risk modeling, fire risk, fire risk prediction, remote sensing and the reviewed papers that predicted the fire risk in the field of remote sensing and geographic information system were retrieved. Then, the modeling and zoning data of fire risk prediction were extracted and analyzed in a descriptive manner. Accordingly, the study was conducted in 1995-2017. Findings: Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) zoning method was more practical among the applied methods and the plant moisture stress measurement was the most efficient among the remote sensing indices. Discussion and Conclusion: The findings indicate that RS and GIS are effective tools in the study of fire risk prediction.

The sea level rise under global climate change and coastal floods caused by extreme sea levels due to the high tide levels and storm surges have huge impacts on coastal society, economy, and natural environment. It has drawn great attention from global scientific researchers. This study examines the definitions and elements of coastal flooding in the general and narrow senses, and mainly focuses on the components of coastal flooding in the narrow sense. Based on the natural disaster system theory, the review systematically summarizes the progress of coastal flood research in China, and then discusses existing problems in present studies and provide future research directions with regard to this issue. It is proposed that future studies need to strengthen research on adapting to climate change in coastal areas, including studies on the risk of multi- hazards and uncertainties of hazard impacts under climate change, risk assessment of key exposure (critical infrastructure) in coastal hotspots, and cost-benefit analysis of adaptation and mitigation measures in coastal areas. Efforts to improve the resilience of coastal areas under climate change should be given more attention. The research community also should establish the mechanism of data sharing among disciplines to meet the needs of future risk assessments, so that coastal issues can be more comprehensively, systematically, and dynamically studied.