Seismic Vulnerability and Old Towns. A Cost-Based Programming Model

Abstract

Vulnerability is a big issue for small inland urban centres, which are exposed to the risk of depopulation. In the climate of the centre-northern part of Italy, and in the context of the recent concentration of a high number of earthquakes in that area, seismic vulnerability can become the determinant cause of the final abandonment of a small town. In some Italian regions, as well as in Emilia Romagna, municipalities are implementing seismic vulnerability reduction policies based on the Emergency Limit Condition, which has become a basic point of reference for ordinary land planning. This study proposes an approach to seismic vulnerability reduction based on valuation planning for implementation within the general planning framework of the Faentina Union, a group of five small towns located in the southwestern part of the Province of Ravenna, Italy. This approach consists of three main stages: knowledge—the typological, constructive, and technological descriptions of the buildings, specifically concerning their degree of vulnerability; interpretation—analysis with the aim of outlining a range of hypotheses with respect to damage in case of a prospective earthquake; and planning—the identification of the courses of action intended to meaningfully reduce the vulnerability of buildings. This stage includes a cost modelling tool aimed at defining the trade-off between the extension and the intensity of the vulnerability reduction works, given the budget.

Assessment of Landscape Co-Benefits in Natura 2000 Site Management Plans

“…The discounted payback period (DPbP) is the number of years it takes to break even from undertaking the investment cost (I 0 ) by discounting future cash flows and recognizing the time value of money (r > 0) [124][125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136]; the higher the discount rate, the longer the DPbP. More simply, a payback period (PP) can be calculated without considering the time preference rate (r = 0) [137][138][139].…”

Life-Cycle Assessment and Monetary Measurements for the Carbon Footprint Reduction of Public Buildings

“…The works also included the related temporary structures, such as scaffolding and the removal of the hypothetical old plaster and window frames, typical in standard buildings. The costs for the design and supervision were calculated as a percentage of the costs of the works; the annual costs [45] for maintenance were calculated as differentiated percentages for each type of work and accounted for along its life cycle.…”

Key Topics and Future Perspectives in Natural Hazards Research

“…Giuffrida et al [10] focus on the seismic vulnerability in small inland urban centres. This is a rather important topic that, sometimes, has received less attention than the seismic risk in cities and densely populated agglomerations.…”