Integrating Seismic Safety into Development Control: A Screening Approach to Setbacks and Inter-Building Separation in Siliguri, India
Abstract
Abstract This paper develops a municipal screening framework to assess two geometry-related seismic concerns in dense urban areas: setback adequacy against debris reach and inter-building separation against pounding risk. Using Rapid Visual Screening data from 1,106 buildings in Siliguri Municipal Corporation, India, the analysis links observable field attributes such as building height, setbacks, side clearances, typology, floor area ratio, and plinth level to debris-reach exceedance, drift-based separation screening, and a combined operational risk flag. Debris reach was estimated using a simple collapse-angle approach, while inter-building separation was evaluated through a drift-based clearance check. Results show that 68.4% of the surveyed stock exceeds debris-safe setback at φ = 45°, 21.8% has inadequate inter-building separation at θ = 1.0%, and 31.8% falls within the combined higher-risk category. Debris insufficiency is far more widespread than separation inadequacy and rises sharply with building height, whereas separation problems are concentrated where side clearance is absent or nearly absent. A risk classification model further identifies inter-building gap, plinth-to-road level, and building height as the strongest predictors of higher-risk classification. The paper contributes a method that requires only field-observable data and extends Rapid Visual Screening beyond building-level triage. It produces outputs that map directly onto existing regulatory…
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