Suitability Assessment of Emergency Shelters Based on GIS: A Case Study in Urban Function Optimization Area of Shanghai

Abstract

In recent years, major disasters have occurred frequently and they have various types, which has seriously affected the lives and property of urban residents. The planning and construction of emergency shelters has become an important factor affecting urban safety and livability, therefore, it is of great significance to study the location and spatial allocation of emergency shelters. This paper established a suitability assessment indicator system for urban emergency shelters, the assessment criteria of emergency shelters can be divided into three categories: applicability criterion, accessibility criterion and safety criterion. Each emergency shelter will get a score to quantify their suitability after assessment, the scores are classified as 5 levels: suitable, appropriate, generally appropriate, less suitable, and unsuitable. The map the suitability of emergency shelters on ArcGIS. A case study in 36 existing emergency shelters of Shanghai, China was conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system.