Risk to cultural heritage in Baixa Pombalina (Lisbon Downtown) - a transdisciplinary approach to exposure and drivers of vulnerability

ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to understand the relationship between risk and cultural heritage as a strategy to raise awareness of the vulnerabilities of populations and their cultural heritage. It focuses on the built heritage of Lisbon Downtown in its different dimensions, tangible and intangible, and argues for the concept of place identity as a way of fully understanding the cultural heritage of the city.

It also analyses how changes in the urban fabric and socio-dynamics affect the exposure of Lisbon Downtown’s cultural heritage to natural and human-induced hazards. Research methods rely on literature review, analysis of municipal data and reports, GIS risk mapping and fieldwork. The latter includes interviews with local people and tourists on risk perception. The cross-referencing of these multiple types of evidence highlights the need for deepening risk and vulnerability assessments studies to better prepare the city of Lisbon, and by analogy other cities, for the next disaster. This study suggests that identifying vulnerability drivers, such as recent building transformations and mass tourism, is critical to reducing risk and mitigating impacts on the city’s cultural heritage.

KEYWORDS:

• 1755 Lisbon earthquake
• built heritage
• disaster risk reduction
• GIS for risk assessment
• Lisbon downtown
• natural hazards

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.