Functions of the Geographical Information System (GIS) have been used in Disaster Management activities for a long period of time. Functions like network analysis are very useful in solving complex network-related issues that may occur in disaster situations. To manage the accessibility of places associated with such natural hazards, an integrated and complete GIS based disaster management system is vital.
Taiwan is a country associated with regular natural disasters due to its geographical location and geological origin. Although the Taipei City is located in a basin, there are some major fault lines cross the Taipei area in the North and South, which exposes the city and its suburbs to possible damage from a potential earthquake in the future.
This paper describes a method for defining the potential hazardous areas and safe roads for urban accessibility landscape in the aftermath of earthquake damage, by combining simple concepts and GIS-based spatial and network analysis to assess how the urban space accessibility decreases when the road network is damaged. A hypothetical case study based on Beitou and Shilin districts of the Taipei City was used to demonstrate the functions of the method. This GIS/ network analysis-based method can be utilized in real world decision support subsystems in disaster management programs, and similar other situations elsewhere, for efficient and quick results.
