Achieving earthquake resilience through design for All

Earthquakes have the ability to catastrophically destroy the built environment and can cause many fatalities and injuries. Earthquakes are not going to stop happening and it is clear from past destructive events that they are able to change the course of history. Those of the World´s population not already living in cities are increasingly moving from the countryside to urban areas. The risk of disaster from natural hazards is increasing proportionally if not exponentially with this population shift. Now is the time to consider how the infrastructure should be designed in order to achieve resilience. Education and training of the population in general and designers, architects and engineers in specific will play a crucial role if resilience is to be attained. The concept of design for all should be central to this education and training effort. Design for all considers the most vulnerable groups within a community and asserts that the whole community will benefit by looking after the needs of the most vulnerable. Design for all is a concept critical to design for resilience but, at the present time, most designers, architects and engineers ignore the concept. With an emphasis on buildings, this paper considers earthquake resilience and design for all. Initially, in this context, resilience is defined. The important resilience parameter of structural performance is considered and illustrated through conventional and innovative design examples aimed at informing designers, architects and engineers. Both the new design of buildings and the rehabilitation of existing buildings are looked at. The second important resilience parameter of people´s behaviour before, during and after a destructive earthquake is also considered and an education and training example aimed at vulnerable groups is illustrated. It is concluded the most vulnerable groups within society must be considered, consulted and involved at every step of the process in order to achieve earthquake resilience. This can be accomplished through design for all.