Human behaviours and BE investigations to preserve the heritage against SUOD disasters

The Built Environment (BE), especially historical parts embodying the built her-itage, has to be preserved from more and more frequent SUdden Onset Disasters (SUODs): events mainly identified in seismic and terroristic risks that cannot be predicted far in advance. The aim of this research is to identify the main issues related to the features of BE prone to disaster in order to provide solutions considering the human behaviours in response to such events. Results evidence the key role of Open Spaces (OS) in the BE during disasters that may interfere the per-formance of the overall urban system. Hence the human behaviours and evacuation process have been studied in order to develop models for safety assessment evaluation and risk-reduction strat-egies proposals.