TY - JOUR
T1 - Plan quality and mitigating damage from natural disasters
T2 - A case study of the northridge earthquake with planning policy considerations
AU - Nelson, Arthur C.
AU - French, Steven P.
N1 - Funding Information:
This article is based on research supported by National Science Foundation grant CMS-9416458 to the Georgia Institute of Technology. We would like to acknowledge the assistance of S. Muthukumar and Maureen M. Holland of the Georgia Institute of Technology who helped us assemble and manipulate the data. We are also grateful to three anonymous referees and to the editors and staff of the Journal of the American Planning Association. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation, the Georgia Institute of Technology, or the Georgia Tech Research Corporation.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - Planners have long believed as an article of faith that land use planning can reduce damage from natural hazards. After evaluating the relationship between the seismic safety elements of comprehensive plans prepared in the Los Angeles region of California and damage caused by the 1994 North-ridge earthquake, we provide evidence that this faith is not misplaced. The State of California requires every local government to include a seismic safety element in its comprehensive land use plan. The 1994 Northridge earthquake provided an opportunity to evaluate the extent to which the quality of state-mandated, locally prepared seismic safety elements reduce earthquake damage. We found that fewer homes were damaged when local governments had developed high-quality factual bases, formulated goals for improving seismic safety, crafted regulatory policies to manage development in hazardous areas, and advanced policies that made the public aware of seismic risks. We conclude that including a high-quality seismic safety element in land use plans can reduce property damage associated with seismic events. Our work has broad implications for land use planning.
AB - Planners have long believed as an article of faith that land use planning can reduce damage from natural hazards. After evaluating the relationship between the seismic safety elements of comprehensive plans prepared in the Los Angeles region of California and damage caused by the 1994 North-ridge earthquake, we provide evidence that this faith is not misplaced. The State of California requires every local government to include a seismic safety element in its comprehensive land use plan. The 1994 Northridge earthquake provided an opportunity to evaluate the extent to which the quality of state-mandated, locally prepared seismic safety elements reduce earthquake damage. We found that fewer homes were damaged when local governments had developed high-quality factual bases, formulated goals for improving seismic safety, crafted regulatory policies to manage development in hazardous areas, and advanced policies that made the public aware of seismic risks. We conclude that including a high-quality seismic safety element in land use plans can reduce property damage associated with seismic events. Our work has broad implications for land use planning.
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U2 - 10.1080/01944360208976265
DO - 10.1080/01944360208976265
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0036282749
SN - 0194-4363
VL - 68
SP - 194
EP - 207
JO - Journal of the American Planning Association
JF - Journal of the American Planning Association
IS - 2
ER -