Case Study of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake: The Disaster Response Capability of Kumamoto Compact City, Japan

Abstract

Compact cities are widely used in urban planning in Japan due to the following benefits: efficient land use, reduction in the transport network and reliance on mass transport, low emissions, etc. However, Compactness often means high density. In disaster-resistant Japan, whether the compact city form can effectively respond to disasters is needed further discussion. In the Kumamoto City Master Plan, 15 local hubs have been planned to promote the development of the compact city. In this study, 15 local hubs are selected as the research objects. Moreover, the entropy method was chosen to evaluate the disaster prevention capability. The results show that disaster risk is high and the disaster prevention ability is weak in the central urban area, which is likely to cause greater losses when the disaster occurs. The local hubs that are far away from the city centre also have the weak disaster prevention due to the lack of disaster prevention facilities, while some hub areas are more capable of disaster prevention despite the high risk of disasters. Therefore, in the post-disaster reconstruction plan, it is recommended making a focus on the low-risk and disaster resistant areas. At the same time, the cancellation of hubs with high risk and weak disaster prevention needs to be further discussed.