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Abstract of the Article

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An overview of rehabilitation and retrofitting of rural residential areas in Iran against natural hazards

Authors:
[ Soleymani ] - Ph.D Geography and Urban Planning Director, Physical Planning Group of NDRII
[ Farzad Behtash ] - Civil Engineer, Senior Urban & Regional Planning Expert, Ph.D St Natural Disaster Research Institute of Iran

Abstract:

Iran is an earthquake prone country. In this country, earthquakes with the magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale have an average return period of 2.5 years which implies major earthquakes in almost every 2-3 years. Fifty percent of the Iranian people live in rural areas and fifty percent of the rural residential areas are constructed in accordance with local and traditional methods or in other words, rural architectural characteristics. Therefore, it is necessary to take suitable national measures for retrofitting and rehabilitation of rural residential areas. Experience shows that within the recent half century, the reconstruction of earthquake stricken areas has posed two challenges to the authorities: 1. Rural housing that has been constructed with weak materials and non-resistant structures 2. Reconstruction activities which have been carried out without taking into consideration the building codes and local and traditional construction safety codes and in contradiction with livelihood system of damaged villages On the other hand, it has been frequently observed that the villagers have abandoned the new buildings which have been constructed according to engineering methods and with new building materials resistant against earthquakes. In contrast, having met their requirements in all aspects of life, they have restored to their traditional and local architectural houses. For instance, Roodak and Farsineh villages can be mentioned in this regard. In this paper, according to lessons learnt from past reconstructions experiences and taking into account the existing local and traditional structures in different parts of the country, we intend to deal with mud brick structures before the occurrence of the earthquake. Therefore, in addition to explaining the features of rural mud brick residential areas, the correct method of construction of these structures as well as proper ways of retrofitting and strengthening of them against earthquake have been discussed. Main Topics of the Paper: 1- Characteristics of mud brick structures 2- Rehabilitation of these structures against earthquake

Keywords:

Rural Housing, Rehabilitation, Retrofitting, Earthquake, Local Architecture.