Facilitating Urban Management Through Local SDI Case Study: The Municipality of Tehran

by Hamed Olfat, Abbas Rajabifard, Faisal Masood Qureshi, and Seyyed Abdolhadi Daneshpour

Integrated and sustainable management of cities is one of the most important challenges facing many countries. In this critical societal challenge context, spatial data is key for decision making, planning and management of cities. Thus, in order to have sustainable management and planning there is a need for managers and planners to have access to reliable, seamless and accurate spatial data. However, the current situation regarding availability, integration, sharing and its effective application by planners and decision makers is not very promising in many jurisdictions worldwide including Iran and Pakistan- the two countries under study by authors. Based on current situation, in urban management in Iran there is a need for anagreed platform that facilitates access to and sharing of spatially related data, services and other resources among different disciplines within any jurisdiction. This platform should also address characteristics such as standards and specifications for data collection, management, maintenance and distribution of spatial data. Having said that, in order to facilitate this situation and respond to the needs, many countries are developing Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) which is a concept for facilitating and coordinating of sharing and integrating of data through different political and administrative levels. SDI can be developed at different levels ranging from local to state/provincial, national, regional and global. SDI as a platform can help to reduce the duplication and save resources in data collection which usually occur due to unknown information about availability of datasets among different urban organizations. In addition, organizations involve in urban planning can have access to a comprehensive dataset of the interested area like a city to achieve sustainable urban planning. This paper discusses the importance and benefits of developing SDI as an enabling platform for urban planning and management based on a case study, namely Tehran Municipality in Iran by exploring challenges and is sues in accessing and sharing spatial data in this jurisdiction. The paper then presents and discusses the process and experiences of developing an SDI Roadmap for this m unicipality. 

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more about urban studies in Iran:

A GIS-based Traffic Control Strategy Planning at Urban Intersections

Development Guidelines for Disast er Risk Management in Tehran 

The impact of modernization on traditional Iranian cities the case of Kerman

THE IDENTITY OF OPEN SPACE: ADAPTING FROM THE MODEL OF TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER

TRADITIONAL SHOPPING: A Syntactic Comparison of Commercial Spaces in Iran and Turkey

A new approach to the Iranian urban planning, using neo-traditional development

URBAN SPRAWL IN IRANIAN CITIES AND ITS DIFFERENCES WITH THE WESTERN SPRAWL

Socio-spatial Obstacles of Urban Sustainability in Historic Center of Cities in Iran

Development Guidelines for Disaster Risk Management in Tehran

by K. Amini Hosseini and M. K. Jafari

Tehran is located in a seismic prone zone, surrounded by some active faults and experienced several destructive earthquakes in its history. Seismologists, based on the probabilistic and deterministic evaluations, believe that a strong earthquake would occur in or around the city in foreseeable future. Furthermore, the vulnerability of the structures, in frastructures and old urban areas in Tehran is quite considerable. Weak buildings, old structures, vulnerable lifelines, insufficient emergency infrastructures and roads, lack of sufficient evacuation places at some districts, etc. are some of the key parameters of earthquake vulnerability of the city. In order to evaluate and improve the present condition, a multidisciplinary project has been carried out by the International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES) for Tehran Municipality for considering earthquake risk in master plan of Tehran. In that project the seismic and geotechnical hazards in Tehran have been evaluated and then the vulnerability of buildings, lifelines and urban structures has been studied. In the third step the disaster management urban elements including rescue and relief stations, health and medical services, emergency roads and evacuation places have been evaluated and a preliminary guideline for development of the city of Tehran has been prepared based on the existing condition. In this paper a summery about the results of evaluation on existing condition for emergency response facilities would be presented and some of the guidelines developed in this field will be explained. 

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THE IDENTITY OF OPEN SPACE: ADAPTING FROM THE MODEL OF TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER

Impact Assessment of Sustainable Public Transportation System on Quality of Life in Tehran

Changes in population settlement pattern in urban system of Tehran province (1966 to 2006)

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Call for papers: JDR’s Special Issue on Great East Japan Earthquake

The Journal of Disaster Research (JDR) publishes special issues on the Great East Japan Earthquake. To make the most of this critical experience of the earthquake disaster as a yardstick for disaster prevention in the future, we call for research papers, survey reports, analyses and proposals related to the Great East Japan Earthquake from diverse perspectives. The special issues will be published annually from August 2012 (published) for five years. We look forward to your submission.

Objective
The Great East Japan Earthquake has caused an unprecedented scale of damage and had widespread effects. There is a need to study the actual condition of damages and countermeasures against disasters from a wide-ranging perspective and on a long-time basis. JDR will annually publish special issues on the Great East Japan Earthquake beginning in 2012, for five years, for the purpose of informing, recording and utilizing lessons learned from the earthquake. Page charges are in principle free. We call for papers through our website or other media, and expect contributions from a broad array of fields.

Study Area
The study area is not specified. We call for research papers, survey reports, analyses and proposals based on scientific or socio-scientific methods, on a wide range of topics related to the Great East Japan Earthquake. Examples of the study areas are as follows.
-Earthquake 

-Seismic motion 

-Tsunami
-Damage by earthquake 

-Damage by tsunami 

- Fire caused by tsunami
-Nuclear disaster 

-Countermeasures against radiation
- Countermeasures for disaster mitigation 

-Recovery and Reconstruction
-Risk management 

-Sanitation 

-Medical care
-Harmful rumors 

-Volunteer 

-Transportation problem
-Others

Deadline for the manuscript: April 1, 2013
Deadline for the final manuscript: May 15, 2013
Date of publication: September 1, 2013

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Asian cities at highest risk to climate change, study says

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Asian cities at highest risk to climate change, study says

By Betwa Sharma

Two Indian cities – Kolkata and Mumbai – are among the top ten facing the highest risk from climate change, according to a study released last week by Maplecroft, a British consultancy firm specializing in risk assessment.

The most vulnerable is Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka followed by Manila in the Philippines and Bangkok in Thailand. Kolkata is ranked seventh and Mumbai is eighth. India’s capital city Delhi ranks 20 among the 50 on the vulnerability index.

New York City, which bore the brunt of Hurricane Sandy, is listed at 41.

The report warns that countries experiencing economic growth of above 5% should not ignore how climate change can impact people and businesses.

“As global corporations expand into the emerging growth markets, their operations and supply chains will become exposed to a complex set of climate risks that have the potential to disrupt business continuity,” said Helen Hodge, Maplecroft’s Head of Maps and Indices.

New York City, however, is categorized only as “medium risk” because of its quick response to Hurricane Sandy.

“The country’s strong economy and infrastructure, coupled with the extensive preparations before the storm’s landfall, enabled a relatively rapid return to operations for many businesses and services, with some of New York’s major airports and the New York Stock Exchange reopening only two days after the storm,” the study said.

While Hurricane Sandy hit New York, an almost equally ferocious Cyclone Nilam hit the southeastern coast of India in October. Sandy has caused damages and economic losses of $50 billion to U.S. northeast region.

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Urbanization and Natural Disasters in the Mediterranean Population Growth and Climate Change in the 21st Century Case Studies on Izmit, Algiers and Alexandria

by Hans Günter Brauch

This paper analyzes the relationship between urbanization – in relation with population growth and climate change – (as causes) and natural disasters as outcomes of environmental stress for the Mediterranean region from 1900 to 2001 – with a specific focus at three case studies in Turkey, Algeria and Egypt. It includes trends of urbanization up to 2015/2030, for population growth up to 2050, and projections of climate change impact models until 2100 that will increase both the vulnerability to and impact of natural disasters. Based on a medium definition of the Mediterranean space (figure 1) that includes all Mediterranean riparian countries plus Portugal, Jordan and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Brauch 2001, 2001a, 2003) this paper addresses both the increasing vulnerability of major cities to geophysical and hydro-meteorological disasters due to rapid urbanization combined with extreme poverty in most countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

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Remote Sensing and Urban Growth Models – Demands and Perspectives

Urban Transport Trends and Policies in China and India: Impacts of Rapid Economic Growth

An integrative GIS and remote sensing model for place-based urban vulnerability analysis

by Tarek Rashed,John Weeks,Helen Couclelis, and Martin Herold

At a glance, it appears impracticable in such a diverse and multidisciplinary area as urban vulnerability to environmental hazards to do what the Buddha did in philosophy – express the essence of the field in a single word. After all, six decades of considerable progress and outstanding achievements by hazards scholars have not succeeded in reconciling discrepancies surrounding fundamental concepts within the field (White and Haas, 1975; Mileti, 1999). The meaning of such basic terms as ‘disaster’, ‘hazard’, ‘risk’ and ‘vulnerability’ continues to be a matter of controversy (Dow, 1992; Cutter, 1996; Cardona, 2004). A review of the literature reveals considerable variation and fundamental conceptual differences among the numerous approaches and models developed to tackle vulnerability, risk and other hazard-related issues (Liverman, 1990; Dow, 1992; Cutter 1996; Rashed and Weeks, 2003; Cardona, 2004).
Despite all the controversies that exist in the field, we start this chapter with a proposition that urban vulnerability may indeed be summed up in one word – ‘particularity’. As the literature suggests, the study of vulnerability is ecological in nature (Kates, 1971; Burton et al., 1978; Andrews, 1985; Hewitt, 1997; Bolin and Stanford, 1999; Fitzpatrick and LaGory, 2000; Wisner et al., 2004). As a result, an uneven and highly changeable complex web of dynamics and ecological factors, encompassing social, economic, cultural, political and physical variables, shape the patterns of urban vulnerability and determine the course in which these patterns evolve across space and through time. We refer to such context-dependent characteristics of vulnerability as ‘particularity’ to emphasize the notion that urban vulnerability can only be assessed in relation to a specific spatiotemporal context and its underlying dynamics, which interact together to produce particular forms of vulnerability.
We recognize that our attempt to describe the essence of vulnerability studies in one word is a bold step, especially when the reader is reminded that the word we use, ‘particularity’, has been central to philosophical tensions between various accounts of risks in hazards research (Mustafa, 2005). Accordingly, we do not expect the reader to accept our thesis as final. Rather, we invite the reader of this chapter to explore the plausibility of our thesis and its implications for the ongoing dialogue about the science of vulnerability (Cutter, 2001, 2003b) and the role of geographic information science and technology in risk and vulnerability analysis (Rejeski, 1993; Cova, 1999; Radke et al., 2000; Cutter, 2003a).

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URBAN AND PERI-URBAN LAND MANAGEMENT EXAMPLES FROM PROVINCAL CAMBODIAN CITIES

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GIS present situation in Japan

Earthquake Management in Iran A compilation of literature on earthquake Management

by Iranian Studies Group at MIT

Less than ten days ago, a deadly earthquake devastated the Iranian city of Bam, killing more than 30,000 people and injuring another 50,000. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern Iranian history, and similar in destruction to the Roudbar earthquake in northern Iran in 1990. Historical information and all available records show that approximately 130 large earthquakes have taken place in most parts of Iran. Considering the high seismicity of Iran, a comprehensive hazard reduction program was launched in Iran in 1991, but the effectiveness of the measures have been limited by lack of adequate funding and institutional coordination. There is no lack of probabilistic studies on the seismicity of the country as well as fault studies. Comprehensive studies have been performed by Berberian (1999, 2001), Amiri et al. (2003), Sarkar et al. (2003), Modarressi (2002), Walker (2002) and Tehranizadeh (2001, 2002). A more detailed bibliography is presented at the end of this document.
A closer analysis of what transforms a natural event into a human and economic disaster reveals that the fundamental problems of development that the region faces are the very same problems that contribute to its vulnerability to the catastrophic effects of natural hazards. The principal causes of vulnerability in the region include rapid and uncontrolled urbanization, the persistence of widespread urban and rural poverty, the degradation of the region's environment resulting from the mismanagement of natural resources, inefficient public policies, and lagging and misguided investments in infrastructure. Development and disaster-related policies have largely focused on emergency response, leaving a serious underinvestment in natural hazard prevention and mitigation.
A proactive stance to reduce the toll of disasters in the region requires a more comprehensive approach that encompasses both pre-disaster risk reduction and post-disaster recovery. It is framed by new policies and institutional arrangements that support effective action. Such an approach involves the following set of activities:
• risk analysis to identify the kinds of risks faced by people and development investments as well as their magnitude;
• prevention and mitigation to address the structural sources of vulnerability;
• risk transfer to spread financial risks over time and among different actors;
• emergency preparedness and response to enhance a country's readiness to cope quickly and effectively with an emergency; and
• post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction to support effective recovery and to safeguard against future disasters.

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The historical core of Bam before being destructed bz earthquake, photo by Banafsh*

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Augusta Practices Resilience in Fighting Floods

By Terri  L. Turner, AICP

The first event, under Declaration DR-880, occurred on October 12, 1990, when, as a result of the convergence of the remnants of both Tropical Storm Marco and Hurricane Klaus (then downgraded to a tropical storm, as well), Augusta experienced some of the worst flooding in its recent history as 15 inches of rain fell during a 100-year-plus storm event causing more than $150 million in property damage. At one point, 2.79 inches of rain fell in approximately one hour, causing widespread flooding, roads flooding to a depth where people had to be rescued from their vehicles, and evacuation of numerous homes.

Another event that same month had localized rainfall exceeding 8.5 inches, producing flooding characterized as a 100-year event.

August 1992 was marked by an intense rain event that caused localized flooding of a number of roads and “rapid local flooding” of several homes. Evacuations of residents occurred in Hollywood Subdivision along Rocky Creek.

In August 1994, the Weather Bureau reported 4.2 inches in a 24-hour period.

The Rocky Creek/Hollywood Subdivision area continued to be plagued by flooding when 3.75 inches of rain, characterized as a 10-year storm event, fell in September 1995, causing traffic accidents along major transportation routes near Rocky Creek and evacuation of 12 families in the Hollywood Subdivision.

Rainfall from 2 to 4 inches in a six-to-nine hour period in March 1996 caused several streams to flood beyond their banks and into homes, including those in Hollywood Subdivision. The flash flooding experienced during that storm event closed several major highways, which were virtually underwater.

Flash flooding in December 1997 caused several highways to be flooded by nearby creeks. The flooded roads included the highly traveled Richmond Hill Road.

March 8, 1998, found Rae’s Creek flooding low-lying areas, although no homes were reported to have flooded. A subsequent storm on March 11 resulted in DR 1209, as more than 3 inches of rain fell on already saturated ground and caused major road and residential flooding in the Rocky Creek area.

March was not to provide the only major storm event for 1998. September delivered 8.5 inches of rain from Tropical Storm Earl over a 14-hour period, causing flash flooding along several streams. About 50 people were evacuated from two subdivisions, several streets were closed due to flooding, and one shelter was opened to house 82 people.

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Resilience meets architecture and urban planning

Hazard Mapping and Vulnerability Assessment

by Toshiaki Udono and Awadh Kishor Sah

A disaster occurs at the point of contact between social activities and a natural phenomenon of unusual scale.
Natural disasters occurring in larger scale may have a serious impact on society and the economy, resulting in a significant national loss.
Disaster prevention should be one of the most important policies of the Government of a country. "One who can rule rivers can rule a country, too" - An old theme of statesmanship.
Although, difficult to avoid natural phenomena such as rain and volcanoes, it is essential to understand their behavior and how we can live with them by reducing their impacts and to strengthen our ability to deal with their effects. Thus, we need to take measures for disaster prevention.
In short, disaster prevention is necessary to protect human lives, properties and social infrastructure against disaster phenomena.

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EVACUATION PLANNING IN EARTHQUAKE DISASTERS, USING RS & GIS

GIS based Earthquake Risk-Vulnerability Analysis and Post-quake Relief Planning

GIS based Earthquake Risk-Vulnerability Analysis and Post-quake Relief Planning

by Jothimani Ponnusamy

Earthquake associated risk poses obstacle to developmental process as well as threat to the livelihood of the resident population, especially in metropolitan cities in developing countries. In order to mitigate and manage the natural disasters, there is an urgent need to adopt various techniques and tools like GIS to design and develop a procedure that will enable the city administrators and responsible disaster management personnel to evaluate earthquake severity and potential impact on the facilities, and suggested associated levels of post-earthquake monitoring response for different magnitude earthquakes occurring within certain distances from the urban amenities and facilities. Hence this proto-type using ArcGIS have been focused on three major components, i.e., Hazard Mapping, Risk Analysis and Post –quake relief planning. Vulnerability analysis was derived from population and estimated building property while Post-quake relief planning focus on quake-hit areas and compared with available general amenities and services such as hospitals, police stations, fire stations etc. Macro level analyses are being attempted with sample Gujarat Data sets and micro level with Ahmedabad data sets to demonstrate the potential.

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EVACUATION PLANNING IN EARTHQUAKE DISASTERS, USING RS & GIS

EVACUATION PLANNING IN EARTHQUAKE DISASTERS, USING RS & GIS

by Karim Naghdi , Ali Mansourian , Mohammad Javad Valadanzoej, Mohammad Saadatseresht

In this research a three-step method was adopted for evacuation planning. At the first step appropriate safe places for evacuation were identified and extracted using RS and image processing techniques. Then using by defining and implementing some constrains in GIS, suitable places were selected. At the second step, for each building block, optimum routes to its candidate safe areas should be determined. In this research, in order to simplify the modeling, the Euclidian distance was utilized. At the third step, by considering and optimizing different factors (such as distance from safe areas, the capacity of the safe areas, and the population of the building blocks) optimum distribution of people to the safe areas was determined. This paper outlines the results of the research.

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