How to optimize the urban recovery after earthquake disaster – Preparedness for recovery from the next Tokyo earthquake

In Japan of recent 16 years, we have experienced three strong earthquake disasters, that are Hanshin-Awaji earthquake (1995) which hit metropolitan area, Niigata-ken Chuetsu earthquake (2004) which hit the aging rural and mountain area, and Eastern Japan Tsunami earthquake(2011) which hit coastal area. We learned from Hanshin-Awaji earthquake the importance of preparedness of urban recovery and reconstruction to optimize the post-disaster recovery and reconstruction from urban earthquake disaster.

The author suggested Tokyo Metropolitan Government to prepare the pre-disaster recovery and reconstruction from the next Tokyo Earthquake. We continue to develop and revise the pre-disaster recovery and reconstruction measures and to implement the exercises of the pre-disaster recovery measures of officials and the community-based urban recovery and reconstruction collaborated with residents.

Trough these developments of pre-disaster recovery measures and implementation of exercises, the concept of pre-disaster recovery and reconstruction are cleared. It is the important to publish the image and concept of urban reconstruction after disaster before the disaster, which is produced according to damage estimation research. In case of the next Tokyo earthquake, damages of houses are very huge. Approximately 850,000 buildings are collapsed and burned, and 1,600,000 homes are lost. It is important to prepare the reconstruction plan making and reconstruction procedure of projects. And also, it is important to prepare the methodology of individual recovery and reconstruction.