City Evacuations: An Interdisciplinary Approach

City Evacuations: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Author: John Preston

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-08-01

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 3662438771

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Evacuating a city is a complex problem that involves issues of governance, preparedness education, warning, information sharing, population dynamics, resilience and recovery. As natural and anthropogenic threats to cities grow, it is an increasingly pressing problem for policy makers and practitioners. The book is the result of a unique interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers in the physical and social sciences to consider how an interdisciplinary approach can help plan for large scale evacuations. It draws on perspectives from physics, mathematics, organisation theory, economics, sociology and education. Importantly it goes beyond disciplinary boundaries and considers how interdisciplinary methods are necessary to approach a complex problem involving human actors and increasingly complex communications and transportation infrastructures. Using real world case studies and modelling the book considers new approaches to evacuation dynamics. It addresses questions of complexity, not only in terms of theory, but examining the latest challenges for cities and emergency responders. Factors such as social media, information quality and visualisation techniques are examined to consider the ‘new’ dynamics of warning and informing, evacuation and recovery.


The Tsunami Threat

The Tsunami Threat

Author: Nils-Axel Morner

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2011-01-29

Total Pages: 732

ISBN-13: 953307552X

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Submarine earthquakes, submarine slides and impacts may set large water volumes in motion characterized by very long wavelengths and a very high speed of lateral displacement, when reaching shallower water the wave breaks in over land - often with disastrous effects. This natural phenomenon is known as a tsunami event. By December 26, 2004, an event in the Indian Ocean, this word suddenly became known to the public. The effects were indeed disastrous and 227,898 people were killed. Tsunami events are a natural part of the Earth's geophysical system. There have been numerous events in the past and they will continue to be a threat to humanity; even more so today, when the coastal zone is occupied by so much more human activity and many more people. Therefore, tsunamis pose a very serious threat to humanity. The only way for us to face this threat is by increased knowledge so that we can meet future events by efficient warning systems and aid organizations. This book offers extensive and new information on tsunamis; their origin, history, effects, monitoring, hazards assessment and proposed handling with respect to precaution. Only through knowledge do we know how to behave in a wise manner. This book should be a well of tsunami knowledge for a long time, we hope.


Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard and Risk Analysis

Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard and Risk Analysis

Author: Katsuichiro Goda

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2024-10-18

Total Pages: 1031

ISBN-13: 0443189889

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Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard and Risk Analysis: Towards Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience covers recent calls for advances in quantitative tsunami hazard and risk analyses for the synthesis of broad knowledge basis and solid understanding of interdisciplinary fields, spanning seismology, tsunami science, and coastal engineering. These new approaches are essential for enhanced disaster resilience of society under multiple hazards and changing climate as tsunamis can cause catastrophic loss to coastal cities and communities globally. This is a low-probability high-consequence event, and it is not easy to develop effective disaster risk reduction measures. In particular, uncertainties associated with tsunami hazards and risks are large. The knowledge and skills for quantitative probabilistic tsunami hazard and risk assessments are in high demand and are required in various related fields, including disaster risk management (governments and local communities), and the insurance and reinsurance industry (catastrophe model). - Focuses on fundamentals on probabilistic tsunami hazard and risk analysis - Includes case studies covering a wide range of applications related to tsunami hazard and risk assessments - Covers tsunami disaster risk management


Understanding Complex Urban Systems: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Modeling

Understanding Complex Urban Systems: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Modeling

Author: Christian Walloth

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2013-12-14

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 3319029967

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Understanding Complex Urban Systems takes as its point of departure the insight that the challenges of global urbanization and the complexity of urban systems cannot be understood – let alone ‘managed’ – by sectoral and disciplinary approaches alone. But while there has recently been significant progress in broadening and refining the methodologies for the quantitative modeling of complex urban systems, in deepening the theoretical understanding of cities as complex systems, or in illuminating the implications for urban planning, there is still a lack of well-founded conceptual thinking on the methodological foundations and the strategies of modeling urban complexity across the disciplines. Bringing together experts from the fields of urban and spatial planning, ecology, urban geography, real estate analysis, organizational cybernetics, stochastic optimization, and literary studies, as well as specialists in various systems approaches and in transdisciplinary methodologies of urban analysis, the volume seeks to advance the discussion on multidisciplinary approaches to urban modeling. While engaging with the ‘state of the art’ in their respective fields, the contributions are specifically written for both experts from a broad range of disciplines as well as for urban practitioners who feel the need for new approaches given the uncertainty of current developments.


Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions

Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions

Author: Rafael Aguilar

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-08-18

Total Pages: 2536

ISBN-13: 3319994417

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This volume contains the proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions (SAHC) that was held in Cusco, Peru in 2018. It disseminates recent advances in the areas related to the structural analysis of historical and archaeological constructions. The challenges faced in this field show that accuracy and robustness of results rely heavily on an interdisciplinary approach, where different areas of expertise from managers, practitioners, and scientists work together. Bearing this in mind, SAHC 2018 stimulated discussion on the new knowledge developed in the different disciplines involved in analysis, conservation, retrofit, and management of existing constructions. This book is organized according to the following topics: assessment and intervention of archaeological heritage, history of construction and building technology, advances in inspection and NDT, innovations in field and laboratory testing applied to historical construction and heritage, new technologies and techniques, risk and vulnerability assessments of heritage for multiple types of hazards, repair, strengthening, and retrofit of historical structures, numerical modeling and structural analysis, structural health monitoring, durability and sustainability, management and conservation strategies for heritage structures, and interdisciplinary projects and case studies. This volume holds particular interest for all the community interested in the challenging task of preserving existing constructions, enable great opportunities, and also uncover new challenges in the field of structural analysis of historical and archeological constructions.


The War on Terror and the Normalisation of Urban Security

The War on Terror and the Normalisation of Urban Security

Author: Jon Coaffee

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-11-07

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 0429867263

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This book explores the processes by which, in the 20 years after 9/11, the practices of urban security and counter-terrorism have impacted the everyday experiences of the Western city. Highlighting the localised urban responses to new security challenges, it reflects critically upon the historical trajectory of techniques of territorialisation and physical protection, urban surveillance and the increasing need for cities to enhance resilience and prepare for anticipated future attacks and unpacks the practices and impacts of the intensification of recent urban security practices in the name of countering terrorism. Drawing on over 25 years of research and practical experience, the author utilises a range of international case studies, framed by conceptual ideas drawn from critical security, political and geographical theory. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of politics, war studies, urban studies, geography, sociology, criminology, and the growing market of security and resilience professionals, as well as non-academic audiences seeking to understand responses to terrorist risk.