New Istanbul

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080123104527.htm 

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2008)— Istanbul is at such high risk for a devastating earthquake that engineers at Purdue University and the Republic of Turkey have come up with a bold new proposal: build a second city.

A second, satellite city would provide immediate refuge to inhabitants of the old city in the event of a catastrophic earthquake and soften such an event's effects on the nation's economy.

Purdue researchers have created a 3-D fly-through animation showing what the proposed new city would look like. The five-minute animation was produced using new technology developed by the Office of Information Technology at Purdue.

Mete Sozen, Purdue's Kettelhut Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering, says building a satellite city from scratch has several advantages. "It is exciting to think about building a new city using completely new technologies," he says. It would use modern information technologies and be environmentally friendly. It would be safe, secure and modern. But more important is that this city would provide a refuge and emergency services in the event of an earthquake."

With some cities around the world at risk from rising ocean waters caused by global climate change or from natural disasters, Sozen says building cities in new locations may become common in coming decades.

Istanbul, which lies just north of the North Anatolian fault, is at high risk for a major earthquake within the next 30 years. "All of the seismic and historical evidence says a major earthquake is overdue," says Sozen, who led an international effort in 2005 to evaluate the risk of such a catastrophe.

That group concluded that it is likely an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 to 7.5 on the Richter scale would occur within the next three decades. Such an earthquake would be especially devastating to Istanbul. Many of the city's buildings were not constructed to withstand earthquakes and, in fact, Sozen says many buildings were constructed with little regard for modern building standards. The city itself is not well designed for earthquakes. Many streets are narrow and winding and would quickly fill with debris after an earthquake, preventing aid from reaching those who are trapped or injured.

"We determined that to bring the city up to modern standards to reduce the effects of an earthquake would cost $50 billion," Sozen says. "At that point we began to think there might be another option. We could run away from the earthquake."

Istanbul, a city of more than 12 million people on Turkey's northwest coast, is one of the world's ancient and historically important cities, having been the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires. The city is Turkey's cultural and economic hub and is responsible for 80 percent of the nation's economy.

"When New Orleans was destroyed by flooding, it had a noticeable but small effect on the economy of the United States," Sozen says. "But if Istanbul were to be destroyed, Turkey's economy would be devastated."

The satellite city of Istanbul is designed to be an economic hub by clustering districts that serve specific purposes. There would a hotel district near the ocean, as well as business, residential and entertainment districts.

If realized, the satellite city of Istanbul would be the first major city to be constructed since Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, was built from 1956-1960. No site for the proposed satellite city has been chosen.

The new city would be earthquake resistant, with strong buildings and wide streets. The city would be designed to take advantage of building techniques used to minimize earthquake damage and incorporate modern technologies such as electronic locks and security, video communication and environmentally friendly technologies.

"We were able to look at the best ideas in the world and incorporate these in our proposal," Sozen says. "For example, the storm sewers will recycle rainwater like the ones in Sweden."

One of the most striking architectural features presented in the Purdue visualization is a cluster of earthquake-resistant buildings arranged in the shape of a star.

Purdue researchers have created a 3-D fly-through animation  showing what the proposed new city would look like. The five-minute animation was produced using new technology developed by the Office of Information Technology at Purdue. A video featuring the fly-through animation of the proposed city can be viewed at:

http://www.youtube.com/purdueuniversity.