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International initiative of risk reduction in urban areas
Rajib
Shaw
OYO Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
rajib-shaw@oyonet.oyo.co.jp
To realize the concept of the IDNDR and "Yokohama Strategy and
Plan of Action," the IDNDR Secretariat, with overall guidance by the IDNDR
Scientific and Technical Committee and in consultation with some leading
institutions, has launched the RADIUS (Risk Assessment Tools for Diagnosis of
Urban Areas against Seismic Disasters) project in 1996 with assistance of the
Government of Japan.
The United Nations General Assembly designated the
1990s as the "International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction" to reduce
loss of life, property damage and social and economic disruption caused by
natural disasters. In 1994, the World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction
was held in Yokohama, Japan, declaring the "Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action
for a Safer World". It stresses particularly the importance of making
appropriate technology available to all freely and of the involvement of local
governments and communities. It also defines the risk assessment as a required
step for the adoption of adequate and successful disaster reduction policies and
measures.
To realize the concept of the IDNDR and "Yokohama Strategy and
Plan of Action," the IDNDR Secretariat, with overall guidance by the IDNDR
Scientific and Technical Committee and in consultation with some leading
institutions, has launched the RADIUS (Risk Assessment Tools for Diagnosis of
Urban Areas against Seismic Disasters) project in 1996 with assistance of the
Government of Japan. It aims to promote worldwide activities for reduction of
seismic disasters in urban areas, particularly in developing countries. The
project will develop common methodologies for seismic risk assessment of urban
areas in order to raise the awareness of decision-makers, government officials,
business leaders, communities and citizens and to provide them with directions
for disaster mitigation. Through the project, it is expected that
state-of-the-art studies and technologies for seismic disaster mitigation will
be incorporated into appropriate tools available to all people in the world.
Direct objectives of the project
- To develop seismic damage scenarios and risk management plans for the
nine case study cities selected worldwide
Nine cities selected worldwide
in developing countries will conduct a case study with financial and technical
assistance from the IDNDR Secretariat. The case studies aim to develop the
seismic damage scenario and then propose an action plan for mitigation of
earthquake disasters. The case studies are expected to raise the awareness of
seismic risks there. Internationally renowned institutes will transfer the
advanced technologies for seismic risk mitigation to the case study cities. The
experiences and results of the case studies will be a good source of information
for other earthquake prone cities.
- To development of practical tools for the seismic damage assessment,
which could be applied to any earthquake prone city in the world.
A
manual and graphic software will be developed, based on the analysis of the case
studies. They can be applied to any earthquake prone cities to prepare
earthquake damage scenarios for urban areas. It is expected that these "globally
applicable local tools" will be utilized by local users, particularly the local
governments, which don’t necessarily have sufficient engineering staff.
With the manual and/or the graphic application, the local governments
can estimate, first, the magnitudes and locations of future probable earthquakes
likely to affect a certain city, second, the level of ground motions that these
earthquakes would create, and finally the physical damage and human losses in
the city. The scenario will show how the damage to buildings and infrastructure
and human loss by zone in a city would be changing as time passes after a
probable earthquake.
- To conduct a comparative study to understand urban seismic risk around
the world
The comparative study on "Understanding Urban Seismic Risk
Around the World" aims to better understand various aspects contributing to the
seismic risk in different urban areas of the world, and identify solutions and
risk management practices that have been successful and can be duplicated.
Cities interested join the study as "Member Cities."
By participating in
the study, first, the participant cities can gain a better understanding of the
characteristics of their seismic risk. Second, the study will help cities
recognize and prioritize projects for the risk management. Third, it will offer
the opportunity for cities to establish partnerships with other cities.
- To promote information exchange for the seismic risk mitigation at city
level
Cities which have carried out or are carrying out a seismic risk
assessment with independent resources participate in RADIUS as "Associate
Cities" for information exchange and international cooperation. The Associate
Cities are expected to offer their valuable experiences to other cities mainly
through the RADIUS home page while they can obtain useful information from other
cities. The results of the seismic risk assessment by applying the
tools are too general, and they must be regarded as the very first step for the
seismic risk assessment. It should be noted that the main purpose of the project
is to raise the awareness of decision-makers, government officers, communities
and private sectors.
Decision makers and government
officials
The results will be useful to decision makers and government
officials who are responsible for disaster prevention and disaster preparedness;
- to decide priorities for urban planning to mitigate seismic disasters
- to prepare an improvement plan for the existing urban structures such as
reinforcement of vulnerable buildings and infrastructures, securing of open
spaces and emergency roads and designation of areas for evacuation
- to prepare for emergency activities such as life saving, fire fighting,
emergency transportation, and assistance to the suffering people
Communities, NGOs, and citizens
The results will be useful
to communities, NGOs, and citizens;
- to understand the vulnerability of the area where they live
- to understand how to behave in case of an earthquake disaster
- to participate in preparing a plan for disaster prevention
Business leaders and related private companies
The results
will be useful to business leaders, building owners, developers, real estate
agents, and insurance/reinsurance companies. They will be able to understand the
seismic risk of the city so that they could minimize the damage on their
business.
The following case study cities were selected out of total 58
cities worldwide. There are nine types of case study cities:
Addis Ababa
(Ethiopia), Antofagasta (Chile), Bandung (Indonesia), Guayaquil (Ecuador), Izmir
(Turkey), Skopje (TFYR Macedonia), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Tijuana (Mexico),
Zigong (China)
Besides, 73 cities are participating in the comparative
study, with mutual information exchange program.
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