Vulnerability is a big issue for small inland urban centres, which are exposed to the risk of depopulation. In the climate of the centre-northern part of Italy, and in the context of the recent concentration of a high number of earthquakes in that area, seismic vulnerability can become the determinant cause of the final abandonment of a small town. In some Italian regions, as well as in Emilia Romagna, municipalities are implementing seismic vulnerability reduction policies based on the Emergency Limit Condition, which has become a basic point of reference for ordinary land planning. This study proposes an approach to seismic vulnerability reduction based on valuation planning for implementation within the general planning framework of the Faentina Union, a group of five small towns located in the southwestern part of the Province of Ravenna, Italy. This approach consists of three main stages: knowledge—the typological, constructive, and technological descriptions of the buildings, specifically concerning their degree of vulnerability; interpretation—analysis with the aim of outlining a range of hypotheses with respect to damage in case of a prospective earthquake; and planning—the identification of the courses of action intended to meaningfully reduce the vulnerability of buildings. This stage includes a cost modelling tool aimed at defining the trade-off between the extension and the intensity of the vulnerability reduction works, given the budget.

This paper - the first of two companion papers [1] - focuses on some considerations about the issue of the knowledge of masonry buildings in aggregate, which aims at evaluating the safety and, at the same time, the preservation inquiry of this built heritage.

The paper illustrates the preliminary results of a research carried out on a historical centre heavily damaged by 2009 L’Aquila earthquake; in particular it presents shortly the Rubble Removal Plan realized and more in detail, the analysis conducted on a sample block. The detailed knowledge of the block is are essential for identifying probable causes that led to the present damage scenario and for planning consciously the reconstruction and restoration of the historical centre.

Vulnerability is a big issue for small inland urban centres, which are exposed to the risk of depopulation. In the climate of the centre-northern part of Italy, and in the context of the recent concentration of a high number of earthquakes in that area, seismic vulnerability can become the determinant cause of the final abandonment of a small town. In some Italian regions, as well as in Emilia Romagna, municipalities are implementing seismic vulnerability reduction policies based on the Emergency Limit Condition, which has become a basic point of reference for ordinary land planning. This study proposes an approach to seismic vulnerability reduction based on valuation planning for implementation within the general planning framework of the Faentina Union, a group of five small towns located in the southwestern part of the Province of Ravenna, Italy. This approach consists of three main stages: knowledge-the typological, constructive, and technological descriptions of the buildings, specifically concerning their degree of vulnerability; interpretation-analysis with the aim of outlining a range of hypotheses with respect to damage in case of a prospective earthquake; and planning-the identification of the courses of action intended to meaningfully reduce the vulnerability of buildings. This stage includes a cost modelling tool aimed at defining the trade-off between the extension and the intensity of the vulnerability reduction works, given the budget.

Vulnerability is the big issue of the small inland urban centers exposed to the risk of depopulation. In the climate and in the context of an increasing seismic risk in the center-northern part of Italy, seismic vulnerability can become the determinant cause of the final abandonment of a small town. In some Italian regions, as well as Emilia Romagna, municipalities are implementing seismic vulnerability reduction policies based on the Emergency Limit Condition that has become a basic reference for ordinary land planning. This study proposes a valuation planning approach to the seismic vulnerability reduction carried out within the general planning framework concerning the Faentina Union, a group of five small towns located in the south-western part of the Province of Ravenna, Italy. The approach consists of three main stages: knowledge – the typological, constructive and technological description of the buildings specifically concerning their vulnerability degree; interpretation – the analyses aimed to outline a range of hypotheses about the damages in case of seism; planning – identifying the works intended to definitely reduce the vulnerability of the buildings. This stage includes a cost modelling tools aimed at outlining the trade-off between the extension and the intensity of the vulnerability reduction works, given the budget.