Above the debris

Abstract

At an accelerating rate, over half of the world’s population is living in urban centres. The catastrophic risk to environmental, cultural, and economic resources amidst these high concentrations of livelihoods upon the wake of a disaster has the potential to be devastating.

A city’s urban form consisting of its open space networks and street structures are important spatial resources that provide affected communities with efficient evacuation routes, assembly areas, temporary market spaces, and room for temporary shelters in the aftermath of a disaster. Open public spaces are especially important during these scenarios as they provide large volumes of space that can be adapted to a variety of different functions. However, these spaces are seldom designed with resilience in mind.

This thesis investigates how open spaces are able to contribute to the disaster resiliency of urban centres, ensuring that the needs of the present are in light of the needs of the future.