Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage in Urban Areas

Over the past several years, there have been frequent reports of large-scale disasters across the globe. In addition to causing enormous loss of life and property, these disasters have caused widespread damage to the cultural heritage of these towns and cities.

Over the past several years, there have been frequent reports of large-scale disasters across the globe. In addition to causing enormous loss of life and property, these disasters have caused widespread damage to the cultural heritage of these towns and cities. Recent disasters such as Hurricane Sandy, which swept across the north-eastern part of the United States in 2012, the Great East Japan Earthquake and Christchurch Earthquake in 2011, are just some examples of the extreme vulnerability of cultural heritage and the lack of resources and planning in place to protect it. It is essential to take proactive measures to reduce risks to cultural heritage from these catastrophic events through adequate mitigation and preparedness. Given the exponential rate of urbanisation, and the inherent risks that are faced by dense urban areas, there is a need for a specialised approach to risk management of cultural heritage in urban areas. In light of these challenges, developing a disaster risk management strategy for cultural heritage is of paramount importance within the overall planning and management frameworks. Comprehensive disaster risk management plans need to be formulated based on the specific characteristics of cultural heritage and nature of hazards within a regional context. These plans should take into account the principles of risk management, response to historic, aesthetic and other values of cultural heritage, and, at the same time, address greater urban development challenges. Such planning requires skilled professionals, administrators and policy makers who are able to take into consideration various aspects for developing risk management plans in regards to cultural heritage.

Several government and institutional organisations have recognised the need for building the capacity among professionals, administrators and policy makers to address these issues, however there are very few programmes which offer focused training for disaster risk management that is specifically tailored to the needs of cultural heritage. This training guide, compiled by the Cultural Heritage and Risk Management Project of Ritsumeikan University’s Research Center for Disaster Mitigation of Urban Cultural Heritage, intends to address this gap. This guide has been compiled with the primary objective of providing a detailed framework for institutions, governments and non‐governmental organisations to carry out their own training and capacity building exercises for professionals, administrators and policy makers engaged in the fields of heritage as well as disaster management.

This training guide builds upon three closely interlinked components: disaster risk management, cultural heritage management and urban planning and development. At one end of the spectrum, it addresses the general principles of disaster risk management for cultural heritage, while at the other it attempts to provide focused learning for participants to deal with various challenges related to disaster risk management of cultural heritage within their local context.