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Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Past earthquakes have consistently highlighted the vulnerabilities of the built environment. Current building codes, which focus primarily on life safety, fail to address the need for buildings to remain functional after a seismic event. The emerging concept of post-earthquake functional recovery aims to integrate recovery-based objectives into building codes. However, literature reveals a predominant focus on engineering parameters, with limited attention given to the perspectives of building users; a critical gap in understanding a building’s comprehensive functionality and path to functional recovery. Whilst structural integrity is essential, functionality following a disaster is not determined by physical stability alone. Thus, this study addresses this gap by exploring the perceptions and expectations of office building users (both tenants and property owners) regarding building functionality and post-earthquake functional recovery in New Zealand’s major urban centres: Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch. A qualitative research strategy was employed, utilising interpretative phenomenological and grounded theory methods to develop insights from the lived experiences of twenty-six (26) participants. The study applied a systems thinking approach using a socio-technical systems (STS) framework to develop micro (single construct) and macro (multiple constructs) models of building-system functionality. The findings demonstrate that a building’s functionality is nuanced, multifaceted, and context dependent. It encompasses physical, economic, social, organisational, technical, regulatory, and environmental elements, and is ultimately determined by users’ specific needs and priorities. A key divergence emerged: whilst property owners prioritise economic and environmental factors, tenants focus on the socio-organisational aspect, viewing the physical workspace as an embodiment of corporate identity, culture, and values. Regarding expectations for post-earthquake functional recovery, the post-pandemic era has drastically reshaped outlooks. Unlike previous earthquakes, where tenants scrambled for any available space, there is now increased demand for flexibility due to the hybrid work model. The immediate return to an office following a major earthquake is now expected to support critical business functions, with essential services including power or a standby generator, technology to access files, water, as well as operations of air conditioning and elevators. By advancing socio-technical systems theory and elucidating building users’ perspectives for a building’s functionality and post-disaster functional recovery, this research provides evidence-based, social science insights to inform more holistic and effective risk governance in property and disaster risk management

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Nowadays the telecommunication systems’ performance has a substantial impact on our lifestyle. Their operationality becomes even more substantial in a post-disaster scenario when these services are used in civil protection and emergency plans, as well as for the restoration of all the other critical infrastructure. Despite the relevance of loss of functionality of telecommunication networks on seismic resilience, studies on their performance assessment are few in the literature. The telecommunication system is a distributed network made up of several components (i.e. ducts, utility holes, cabinets, major and local exchanges). Given that these networks cover a large geographical area, they can be easily subjected to the effects of a seismic event, either the ground shaking itself, or co-seismic events such as liquefaction and landslides. In this paper, an analysis of the data collected after the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) and the 2016 Kaikoura Earthquake in New Zealand is conducted. Analysing these data, information gaps are critically identified regarding physical and functional failures of the telecommunication components, the timeline of repair/reconstruction activities and service recovery, geotechnical tests and land planning maps. Indeed, if these missing data were presented, they could aid the assessment of the seismic resilience. Thus, practical improvements in the post-disaster collection from both a network and organisational viewpoints are proposed through consultation of national and international researchers and highly experienced asset managers from Chorus. Finally, an outline of future studies which could guide towards a more resilient seismic performance of the telecommunication network is presented.