@phdthesis{Ravankhah2019, author = {Ravankhah, Mohammad}, title = {Earthquake disaster risk assessment for cultural World Heritage sites : the case of "Bam and its cultural landscape" in Iran}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:co1-opus4-52537}, school = {BTU Cottbus - Senftenberg}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Despite the continuous effects of natural hazards on cultural heritage and growing body of research on disaster risk assessment, cultural heritage still suffers from the lack of integrated risk assessment methodologies. Within the context of natural hazards, earthquakes need to be differently considered mainly due to the sudden massive destruction without warning and the unpredictability of the exact occurrence time and place. So far, limited sources have been adequately dedicated to developing risk assessment methodologies for cultural heritage. The challenge is to integrate the principles and methods of risk assessment in heritage conservation on one side, and to incorporate particular characteristics of cultural heritage and World Cultural Heritage properties (e.g. the Outstanding Universal Values and associated conditions of authenticity and integrity) into the risk assessment procedure, on the other. There are numerous cultural properties that have been extremely affected by seismic events, such as the historic city of Bam in Iran. The World Heritage site of 'Bam and its Cultural Landscape', as a unique example of a traditional human settlement, is investigated in this research. Because Bam and its Cultural Landscape is located in a high-probability earthquake region and appeared to be highly vulnerable to seismic events, an integrated risk assessment for the property needs to be developed in response to potential earthquakes. Recognising the challenge, a Cultural Heritage Risk Index for Bam is performed to measure the level of risk by aggregating the risk components, which are 'hazard' (earthquakes), 'exposure' (significance of the site elements), and 'vulnerability' (susceptibility and coping capacity). According to the risk index, an earthquake risk map is generated by applying Geographic Information System (GIS) to demonstrate a common understanding of the level of potential impacts on the property. Furthermore, a multiple impact identification matrix supports determining the potential impacts of an earthquake as well as its related secondary hazards and human-induced threats that need to be addressed in a risk preparedness plan. The findings of the research emphasis that in addition to the hazard itself, diverse factors associated with the heritage significance, structural susceptibility, and institutional capacity highly influence the level of risk. The outputs of the risk assessment allows determining site-specific risk reduction strategies, particularly seismic susceptibility reduction and coping capacity building. This provides specialists and practitioners from multiple sectors engaged in the protection of (World) cultural heritage with a practical tool to facilitate risk communication and appropriate risk management planning.}, subject = {Earthquakes; Bam (Iran); Vulnerability assessment; World Cultural Heritage; Disaster risk assessment; Erdbeben; Bam (Iran); Vulnerabilit{\"a}tsbewertung; Weltkulturerbe; Katastrophenrisikobeurteilung; Bam ; Weltkulturerbe; Erdbeben; Risikoanalyse}, language = {en} }