Changing from the Emergency Plan to the Resilience Plan: A Novel Approach to Civil Protection and Urban Planning

Abstract

Seismic risk study and consequent mitigation strategies have become always more important. In modern communities are complex communities; therefore, there are complex processes based on strongly different topics: urban planning, socio-economic dynamics, the need to preserve cultural heritage, safety, and natural hazard effects. In last years, a significant change in point of view seems necessary. In particular, the seismic risk mitigation (and more generally, the natural risks mitigation) must become one of the main topic in urban planning and governance of communities. it is to be highlighted that in past earthquekas higher consequences and losses have been generally caused in the medium and long term by the low or lack of resilience of the communities. However, in recent years, the concrete application of the concept of the resilience have taken on a key role in seismic risk studies. In particular, the resilience assessment of the housing stock, both qualitatively and quantitatively can be considered the core of the problem. In this study, based on the concept of resilience a change in urban planning and emergency management tools is defined. A case study is considered to show a first application. The improvement of the resilience of the investigated town is defined on several strategies and then it is quantified.