This special issue summarizes the main results of the first half of the five-year SATREPS project in Myanmar. SATREPS stands for “Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development” and it is supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). The title of our project is “Construction of Myanmar Disaster Response Enhancement System and Industry-Academia-Government Cooperation Platform.” Ours is the first SATREPS project in Myanmar and Yangon Technological University (YTU) is our main counterpart institute and relevant organizations mainly national and local governments are collaborating as strategic partners.

In Myanmar, rural and urban development has been progressing rapidly and on a large scale, and the expansion of urban population coupled with climate change has increased the risk of disaster to a critical level, especially in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. By monitoring changes in the urban environment, such as the topography, ground, buildings, and infrastructure, we seek to lower the level of risk. Our project will improve the disaster management system, plan and response capability, based on an evaluation of disaster vulnerabilities. Considering floods including tidal wave problems and earthquakes as the target hazards, we aim to contribute to the development of precise regional development plans and disaster management measures by identifying disaster risks in advance, and we will support the Myanmar government in strengthening its disaster response capabilities.

We plan to set up a system by which industry, academia, and the government collaborate to promote the understanding of research content, to continue research activities, and to implement research results in Myanmar. We hope that our activities in the SATREPS project will become an ideal model for solving issues in urban development and disaster management, and that the project will also contribute the other Asian countries.