Built Environment Typologies Prone to Risk: A Cluster Analysis of Open Spaces in Italian Cities

Alessandro D’Amico,Marco Angelosanti,Gabriele Bernardini,Martina Russo,Edoardo Currà,Enrico Quagliarini,Donatella Vicari

doi:10.3390/su13169457

Alessandro D’Amico, Marco Angelosanti + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169457

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Abstract

Planning for preparedness, in terms of multi-hazard disasters, involves testing the relevant abilities to mitigate damage and build resilience, through the assessment of deterministic disaster scenarios. Among risk-prone assets, open spaces (OSs) play a significant role in the characterization of the built environment (BE) and represent the relevant urban portion on which to develop multi-risk scenarios. The aim of this paper is to elaborate ideal scenarios—namely, Built Environment Typologies (BETs)—for simulation-based risk assessment actions, considering the safety and resilience of BEs in emergency conditions. The investigation is conducted through the GIS data collection of the common characteristics of OSs (i.e., squares), identified through five parameters considered significant in the scientific literature. These data were processed through a non-hierarchical cluster analysis. The results of the cluster analysis identified five groups of OSs, characterized by specific morphological, functional, and physical characteristics. Combining the outcomes of the cluster analysis with a critical analysis, nine final BETs were identified. The resulting BETs were linked to characteristic risk combinations, according to the analysed parameters. Thus, the multi-risk scenarios identified through the statistical analysis lay the basis for future risk assessments of BEs, based on the peculiar characteristics of Italian towns.

Highlights

Disasters caused by natural hazards can trigger chains of multiple disastrous events over different spatial and temporal scales
The identification of built environment (BE) scenarios suitable for multi-risk assessments serves as a preliminary step towards the preparation of simulation models, aimed at estimating the risk levels of open spaces (OSs) in BE and the safety of their occupants
Particular attention should be paid to the specific characteristics of BEs in the Italian towns that affect sudden onset disaster (SUODs; e.g., earthquakes and terrorist attacks) and slow onset disaster (SLODs; e.g., heatwaves and air pollution) risks, taking into consideration morphological, geometric, functional, and constructive aspects

Summary

Introduction

Disasters caused by natural hazards can trigger chains of multiple disastrous events over different spatial and temporal scales. As many regions of the world become subject to multiple hazards [2], the number of people affected by them keeps increasing. According to the report of the World Bank on the main hotspots of natural hazards [3], about 3.8 million km and 790 million people in the world are relatively highly exposed to at least two hazards, while about 0.5 million km and 105 million people are exposed to three or more hazards. Climate change is likely to further increase the exposure to multiple risks, affecting the magnitude, frequency, and spatial distribution of hazardous and disastrous events [4]. The overlap of different risks refers to both sudden-onset disasters (SUOD) (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes, floods) and slow-onset disasters (SLOD) (e.g., drought, pollution, heatwaves, epidemic diseases) [5,6,7]

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