The evolution of executive policies of deteriorated urban fabrics regeneration with a focus on disaster risk reduction

Urban regeneration is the most recent approach to intervene in deteriorated urban fabrics that generally have low quality of life, physical instability, poor socioeconomic status, and unfavorable health conditions, which have made these areas vulnerable to natural hazards and man-made disasters. The objective of this article is to review urban regeneration policies of deteriorated urban fabrics focusing on disaster risk reduction, implementation of these policies, and development of a conceptual framework to achieve the aforementioned goal. In this research, published works on the topic were overviewed with the aim of finding the causes of success or failure of urban regeneration projects focused on disaster risk reduction. Then, the relationship between urban regeneration and disaster risk reduction and the common goals of these two fields were analyzed, and the results were used in developing an effective conceptual framework for the regeneration of urban fabrics with a focus on disaster risk reduction. Studies on the implementation of urban regeneration policies aimed at reducing the risk of disasters reveal the facts that determine the success or failure of the project. Among the lessons learned from these studies, there is a common feature that influences the success of projects and distinguishes disaster risk reduction projects from others, and that is the development of a vision for the place and the accurate assessment of vulnerability in the targeted areas. Accurate assessment of vulnerability in target areas requires a conceptual framework that can be used as a guide map in the assessment. By acquiring a comprehensive knowledge of the target area, one can use the problems as an opportunity to regenerate the deteriorated fabric and reduce disaster risk.