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Abstract
This thesis casts a new light on traditional use of parks by discussing whether existing parks in the U.S. can be used for disaster management and what features should be improved for unqualified parks, especially for earthquakes. First, this thesis analyzes Japanese disaster prevention parks in respect to their types and functions, focusing on disaster prevention, disaster relief, and post-disaster recovery. Next, overlay analysis is conducted to identify a project site in the United States. The Hazus program in conjunction with GIS is used to conduct this analysis. Based on the analysis, three districts in the city of Oakland California are chosen for a case study. Forty-one parks in the region are surveyed to evaluate the feasibility of implementing Japanese strategies. The result of this research suggests that parks in Oakland can improve their capability to prepare for future earthquakes by modifying access and creating programs which allow flexible use of parks both before and after a disaster. This paper intends to open a dialog to discuss parks as essential tools for disaster management that landscape architects take charge of.