1. A Perspective
on Natural
Hazard
Resilience in
Iranian Cities
David Alexander
University College London

2. The rosebud and the soul
Write mysteries on their margins,
Fold by fold,
Stay closed,
And wait.
Hafez Shirazi

3. BENIGN (healthy)
at the service of the people
IDEOLOGY interplay dialectic CULTURE
MALIGN (corrupt)
at the service of vested interests
Justification Development
[spiritual, cultural, political, economic]

4. Aspects of
preparedness
in Iran

5. Earthquake preparedness
information campaigns

7. Seismic monitoring

8. Civil protection
and emergency
response

13. Emergency planning

14. Critical infrastructure protection

15. The complexity and diversity of
Iranian urban environments presents
a challenge to disaster risk reduction

16. Tehran
• 8-16 million inhabitants
• three fault systems: mag. 6.9-7.1
• last major quake 1840: seismic gap?
• 50% building stock not antiseismic
• predicted 400,000 deaths.

21. Elements of
vulnerability
and resilience
of historic
buildings in
Iran
Contrasting Sinān with Bahā' al-dīn al-'Āmilī

22. Islamic architecture and dynamic hazards
• domes and vaults: heavy and rigid
• arches: shallow and round-headed
• minarets: tall, slender and fragile
= rigidity, spreading stress
distribution, high centre of mass.

23. Mitigating factors in Iran
• widespread use of acute arch
(stress distribution more contained)
• high quality of masonry and design
• use of flexible, energy-
absorbing wooden spacers.

34. An unknown quantity...

35. Problems of
Environmental Protection

38. Where there's no sign of hope in the desert
So much hope still lives inside despair
Heart, don't kill that hope,
Even willows bear sweet fruit
In the garden of the soul.
Maulana (Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī)
Kolliyat-e-Shams-e-Tabrizi

39. Kheyli mamnoon
va khoda hafez!
david.alexander@ucl.ac.uk
emergency-planning.blogspot.com
www.slideshare.net/dealexander