ANTAEUS Project for the Regional Vulnerability Assessment of the Current Building Stock in Historical Centers

This article presents a methodology for the seismic vulnerability assessment of current buildings, suitable for the study of historical centers at the regional scale. The applicability is demonstrated with reference to four case studies: the historical center of the city of Foggia (Italy) and three other small towns of this province, for a total of 4519 housing units. Field data were collected by several teams of technicians by means of a survey form, provided in electronic format. The subsequent data processing and drawing of vulnerability maps was performed using geographical information system (GIS) technology. The collected data were used also for the validation of the algorithm, by comparing the results with those of the methodology used by the Gruppo Nazionale per la Difesa dai Terremoti (GNDT [Italian National Group for Defense Against Earthquakes]), which is widely adopted in Italy. The results of the research study and the application showed some critical points, related to the poor nature of the information collected and to the reliability of the final results. These issues are analyzed and discussed, proposing a strategy for improving the methodology.     

Teaching introductory GIS programming to geographers using an open source Python approach

Computer programming is not commonly taught to geographers as a part of geographic information system (GIS) courses, but the advent of NeoGeography, big data and open GIS means that programming skills are becoming more important. To encourage the teaching of programming to geographers, this paper outlines a course based around a series of laboratories that aims to provide an introduction to programming. Methods for teaching and assessment are recommended. These laboratories use core spatial concepts that are relevant for all areas of geographic study, and use an open source Python approach that has wider logistical and pedagogical benefits.     

New Indices for the Existing City-Centers Streets Network Reliability and Availability Assessment in Earthquake Emergency

During earthquake emergencies in existing city-centers, streets network permits inhabitants to reach safe areas, and rescuers to access damaged zones and help population. However, the network can suffer from blocks due to debris of collapsed or heavily damaged buildings. Understanding urban fabric modifications and classifying elements vulnerability are fundamental steps while dealing with risk-assessment and risk-reduction strategies. This article offers a first quick approach for assessing seismic vulnerability of paths network by considering interferences with building heritage damages. Quick data about existing urban fabric (e.g., buildings typology; streets and buildings geometries) are combined for developing new vulnerability indices for streets network. The earthquake macroseismic intensity is introduced for evaluating probable street blockages and summarizing the overall rating of risks in critical network locations, thus intensity that is not included in other current quick methods for streets-building interference is here taken into account. Risk-reduction strategies based on the proposed indices could minimize the interventions on architectural heritage, maximizing the safety of evacuees. These new indices could be combined with traditional assessment of buildings vulnerability, and evaluations on pedestrians’ and vehicles evacuation flows, for evaluating management strategies.     

Performance-based Seismic Risk Assessment of Urban Systems

ABSTRACT

Disaster risk mitigation has become a urgent global need. Similar to other natural hazards, earthquakes may cause significant damage on a large scale. In Europe and in other regions with dense urbanization, seismic events can heavily impact historical city centers due to the several structural fragilities. These centers are often part of the worldwide cultural heritage and their preservation is considered a strategic issue. Furthermore, earthquakes may have severe negative short-term economic effects on the impacted communities and adverse longer-term consequences for economic growth. For this reason, the development of an efficient approach for urban seismic risk assessment becomes essential. An original approach is proposed, based on performance concepts and multidisciplinary perspectives. The procedure is applied for validation to the city center of Concordia Sulla Secchia (Italy), damaged by the 2012 Pianura Padana Earthquake (PPE), comparing predicted damage scenarios with the actual post-seismic survey data.     

Seismic vulnerability assessment of historical centers at urban scale

Seismic prevention and mitigation of historical centers have gained a central position within earthquake engineering topics, particularly in areas such as Italy, Greece, and Portugal. Many historical towns in these countries have been strongly damaged, due to the high quantity of old buildings and urban structures and infrastructures. In this article, these aspects are described, modeled, and investigated in terms of structural safety, the goal being the set-up of a comprehensive strategy for seismic prevention and mitigation of a whole historical center. The proposed approach is based on two relevant parts: the first is an urban risk assessment, the second is a prioritization of retrofitting interventions so as to optimally increase urban safety.

The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is shown with reference to a complex case study, the historical center of “Montebello di Bertona”. It is initially modeled as a series/parallel system and then studied by applying seismic reliability methods. Seismic retrofitting interventions are finally prioritized.     

Masonry Italian Code-Conforming Buildings. Part 2: Nonlinear Modelling and Time-History Analysis

ABSTRACT

The unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings designed to be conforming with the Italian building code, as illustrated in the companion paper, were analyzed by performing time-history analyses on models realized using an equivalent frame approach and by adopting two different constitutive laws. Both the effect of record-to-record variability and of epistemic and aleatory uncertainties in modelling were explored. The achieved results constitute the basis for the evaluation of the risk level implicit in Italian code-conforming buildings. Two main performance conditions are considered, namely usability-preventing damage and global collapse limit states.     

Micro-level assessment of regional and local disaster impacts in tourist destinations

ABSTRACT

The tourism sector faces severe challenges due to the economic impacts from changing natural environments as seen with the increased frequency of natural disasters. Therefore, analyses of disaster impacts models are necessary for managing successful tourism recovery. Typically, disaster assessments are conducted on a countrywide level, which can lead to imbalanced recovery processes, and a distorted distribution of recovery financing or subsidies. We address the challenges of recovery using the tourism disaster management framework by Faulkner. To calculate precise damage assessments, we develop a micro-level assessment model to analyze and understand disaster impacts at the micro-level supporting tourism recovery in an affected destination. We examine economic consequences of a disaster at a small regional scale arguing recovery from a natural disaster is more difficult in individual areas because of differences in geographic location or infrastructure development. The island of Dominica is chosen as an example for the model using statistical data from the tourism sector to outline and detail the consequences of a disaster specifically for communities. The results highlight the importance of damage assessments on a small-scale level, such as communities in order to distinguish between individual regions facing severe changes for resident livelihoods and the local tourism sector. We argue that only after identifying regional impacts it is possible to apply adequate governmental subsidies and development strategies for a country's tourism sector and residents in a continuously changing environment in the hopes of mitigating future financial losses and future climate change impacts.     

基于旅游调控规划的湖泊旅游环境评价研究——以云南高原湖泊为例

旅游环境是旅游研究的重要领域之一,而湖泊环境是湖滨开发旅游的最核心的要素之一。随着旅游业成为云南主导产业,云南高原的主要湖泊都已开发为旅游区。本文对云南高原主要湖泊的水质、噪声、大气环境、垃圾处理、旅游容量利用强度和绿化率等环境监测数据进行了定量分析,这些指标表明云南各主要湖滨旅游区的环境质量都存在一定的问题。造成目前主要湖滨旅游区生态环境质量问题的原因是多方面的,但是湖滨旅游度假区正日益成为湖泊污染的一大源头。本文通过资料对比分析,说明和验证了各主要湖泊湖滨旅游区环境效应的影响程度和范围,为湖区旅游环境的调控规划提供了基础支撑作用。     

How to Produce a Digital Story

Modern day students are said to hold a toolbox of technical knowledge, which can assist them with their undergraduate studies. The ‘net generation’ is more technologically capable than ever before and crave interactivity and image-rich environments, which has created a need for higher education institutions to diversify assessment practices. Digital stories (this refers to a collection of still images, audio and video) as a means for assessing Geography undergraduates, lend themselves well to fieldwork activities, and this paper provides practical advice and guidance to students on how to create the best digital stories for assessment.