A methodology to leverage seismic risk assessments to inform seismic policy development in the City of Vancouver

Seismic risk reduction planning for existing buildings must begin with a quantitative account of risk, and it must contain an objective basis grounding the various policy options considered within it. This work aims to develop a methodology to generate that objective policy basis, leveraging seismic risk modelling outputs to detail the benefits of various policy options to reduce risk in Vancouver’s 90,000 existing, privately held buildings. The proposed methodology will consider risk in terms of building damage, casualties, recovery time, and disrupted occupants, creating a process to model the reduction across each risk metric for cohorts of buildings. These cohorts will be ranked by their impact upon the desired metrics, allowing for identification of efficient policy strategies from a test set. In effect, this work will allow municipal staff and decision makers to understand the potential for risk reduction and make informed policy decisions, including risk reduction targets, to advance citywide seismic resilience.

Faculty Supervisor:

Carlos Molina Hutt

Student:

Partner:

City of Vancouver

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Public administration

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: