Resilience Evaluation and Renovation Strategies of Public Spaces in Old Communities from a Disaster-Adaptive Perspective

Abstract

Old community districts grapple with issues such as antiquated infrastructure and functional designs that fail to meet contemporary needs. These limitations lead to diminished disaster resistance and a reduced quality of life for inhabitants. Public spaces within these antiquated districts can function as sanctuaries during calamities, enhancing the community’s disaster response efficacy and expediting post-disaster recovery, which is vital for effective disaster management. Nevertheless, the disaster-resilience attributes of public spaces in these old districts have not been sufficiently researched. This study focused on three representative old communities in Beijing, analyzing and contrasting their disaster resilience attributes and various community types. Utilizing the Analytic Hierarchy Process, a hierarchical structural model was formulated, examining the public spatial structure, function, transportation, and ecology. A comprehensive analysis was then conducted to identify the resilience characteristics that public spaces in old communities should possess. The findings indicated that the prioritization of the four criteria—ecological space, transit space, spatial function, and spatial structure—in the development of disaster-resilient public spaces in communities increases progressively. The renovation to increase the disaster-resilience of old communities should concentrate on optimizing the spatial structure layout of the community, enhancing the integrity, openness, and coherence of public spaces; imbuing public spaces with versatile and multifaceted functions, and establishing hierarchical distribution systems; ensuring transit spaces cater to both everyday use and disaster exigencies, maintaining unimpeded traffic flow under all conditions; and creating multi-tiered ecological spaces to bolster resilience during disasters while enhancing daily aesthetics. This research enriches the strategies for the disaster-resilient renovation of public spaces in old communities, offering precise and scientific references to improve community disaster resilience and emergency response capabilities.