Urban Planning and Design in a Seismic-Prone Region (The Case of Rasht in Northern Iran)

Abstract

To effectively reduce seismic risk and the vulnerability of the environment to future earthquakes in the world's high risk zones, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive and cohesive system of planning and design to integrate, facilitate, complement, and strengthen decisions at various levels and different aspects, eventually leading to a safer environment. The catastrophic Manjil Earthquake of June 1990 in Northern Iran, in spite of tremendous human and property losses, provided a unique opportunity to study and analyze, among other areas, the role urban planning and design can play in effectively mitigating seismic risk in the urban areas of the seismic-prone regions of the world. In this article, urban planning and design activities to reduce seismic risk will be discussed, and reference will be made to the case of the City of Rasht in Northern Iran.