Land Use Planning and its effects on reduced city vulnerability Against Earthquake

Subject Areas : environmental management

Elham Amini ¹ , Farah Habib ² , Gholam Hossein Mojtahedzadeh ³

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Received: 2008-05-16 Accepted : 2008-08-05 Published : 2010-09-23

Keywords: urban fabric, Urban land use planning, vulnerability on an urban scal,

Abstract :

The growing population and necessary development of urban areas have raised major concern about how to minimize natural hazards in urban societies. Urban growth is changing constantly owing to the way of humanity lives on the earth. The size of both cities and their urban populations is unprecedented. Major changes in city sizes have altered the way land and its resources are used and manifestly led to undesirable environmental consequences. Examined casualties of and damages from earthquake in cities show that a high percentage of damages are directly or indirectly caused by unacceptability of planning and calculated risks to cities so as to reduce them. It can be said in actual fact that damages and casualties of earthquake are mainly caused not only by violated standards of structures but also by improper principals of urban planning (including design). Minimizing the risk of earthquake relies upon pre- and post- earthquake studies of urban plans (including design). A positive step forward in decreasing the vulnerability of urban areas to earthquake is considering urban land use planning as a central core of urban planning. An increased flexibility of urban areas to minimize earthquake risks depends on including proof against earthquake in urban planning. This paper attempts to show the relationship between urban land use and vulnerability of cities against earthquake, primarily focusing on the necessity of including the relationship in urban planning. Determining strategies for land use planning, this paper offers flexible, simple, logical and effective policies on and criteria for rehabilitating urban fabric