An assessment on size and site selection of emergency assembly points and temporary shelter areas in Düzce

Abstract

Open green spaces contribute to urban/rural life in terms of ecological, recreational, spatial, economic, etc., functions as well as prevention of natural disasters, mitigation of its impacts, and providing spatial support to people before, during and after a disaster, especially an earthquake. Therefore, during and after the earthquake, there is need of planning of sufficient and safely (suitable site selection) open green spaces, which will provide emergency assembling and temporary and/or long-term shelter of the public, which can be accessed at certain distances, as emergency assembly points and temporary shelter areas (multiple uses). In this study, the suitable size, accessibility standards and site selection criteria, which are discussed separately in the literature, were determined in a way to coincide with the natural and cultural landscape characteristics of Duzce city center. According to these standards and criteria, some determinations have been made in the study area. Firstly, the situation of emergency assembly points and temporary shelter areas in Duzce city, which has two earthquake experiences (in 1999), has been determined with field survey and the data of 1/1000 scaled Implementary Development Plan, which is planned in 2010 and is revised in 2017, and transferred to Geographical Information Systems. Secondly, in the suitability analysis, the criteria that increase/decrease the risk in the neighborhoods were integrated with the data at the first stage and very suitable, suitable and unsuitable areas were determined. Lastly, the size (m2 per capita) and accessibility (service radius) of the emergency assembly points and temporary shelter areas determined by the Governorship of Duzce Provincial Disaster and Emergency Directorate have been evaluated according to the relevant standards. It has been determined that there are deficiencies in the site selection and size of the emergency assembly points and temporary shelter areas in the city and in this context the mapping of the neighborhoods where the size of the area is insufficient and areas where cannot access emergency assembly points and temporary shelter areas in the whole city has been realized. As a result, some suggestions have been presented in Duzce city center regarding the planning of open green spaces and integration of standards and strategies for natural disasters (earthquake).