The Vulnerability of Iranian Cities Against Earthquake and the Role of Neighborhood Participation in Providing Assistance for Them

The city and urban life together with convenience and welfare has provided for dwellers-inwardly and outside in origin-great many of dangers both natural and human. The earthquake is an example of natural phenomena which causes tremendous human casualties and damages in the vulnerable countries including developing especially in their cities.Our country, because of being located on the seismically belt and having numerous faults on its structural bed with the vulnerability of the urban areas caused by population and building density of the cities with improper urban planning and…., has been harmed severely by the destructive earthquakes too. One of the most considerable measures taken in disaster after informing the people of the scope of the vulnerability of the human settlements in order to prevent and get prepared against earthquake is succor for earthquake stricken people. The experience obtained in different countries indicates that the emergency operations responds are is out of the scope of the governments and they even lack of the needed efficiencies. Therefore the most effective activities of assistance and relief at the earlier stages of the earthquake disaster afterward are the self-initiated public organizations in the scope of urban neighborhoods which promotes the urban safety and security by the due management of the disaster.For this purpose the writers of the article have dealt with a survey of the concept of participation, the physical structure of the neighborhood in succor, natural and human elements which have specific effects in the vulnerability of Iranian cities against the earthquake before it breaks out with a survey of the theoretical viewpoints and the records of the countries in the public participation and have ultimately presented solutions for promoting the public participation and decrease in the evil consequences and deaths caused by the earthquake.