A Perspective on Natural Hazard

Resilience in Iranian Cities

David Alexander University College London

The rosebud and the soul Write mysteries on their margins, Fold by fold, Stay closed, And wait. Hafez Shirazi

BENIGN (healthy) at the service of the people

MALIGN (corrupt) at the service of vested interests

interplay dialectic

Justification Development

[spiritual, cultural, political, economic]

IDEOLOGY CULTURE

Aspects of preparedness

in Iran

Earthquake preparedness information campaigns

Seismic monitoring

Civil protection and emergency

response

Emergency planning

Critical infrastructure protection

The complexity and diversity of Iranian urban environments presents a challenge to disaster risk reduction

• 8-16 million inhabitants

• three fault systems: mag. 6.9-7.1

• last major quake 1840: seismic gap?

• 50% building stock not antiseismic

• predicted 400,000 deaths.

Tehran

Elements of vulnerability and resilience of historic buildings in

Iran

Contrasting Sinān with Bahā' al-dīn al-'Āmilī

• domes and vaults: heavy and rigid

• arches: shallow and round-headed

• minarets: tall, slender and fragile

= rigidity, spreading stress distribution, high centre of mass.

Islamic architecture and dynamic hazards

• widespread use of acute arch (stress distribution more contained)

• high quality of masonry and design

• use of flexible, energy- absorbing wooden spacers.

Mitigating factors in Iran

An unknown quantity...

Problems of Environmental Protection

Where there's no sign of hope in the desert So much hope still lives inside despair Heart, don't kill that hope, Even willows bear sweet fruit In the garden of the soul. Maulana (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) Kolliyat-e-Shams-e-Tabrizi

Kheyli mamnoon va khoda hafez!

david.alexander@ucl.ac.uk emergency-planning.blogspot.com www.slideshare.net/dealexander