How can we better finance the retrofitting of earthquake-prone buildings? One of the most significant
barriers to community resilience in the event of a major earthquake is earthquake-prone building stock.
Often, the biggest obstacle to earthquake strengthening is cost; in many cases, EQPB owners perceive
strengthening as prohibitively expensive. Because of this, government mandates may not be enough to lead
to adequate retrofitting and may in fact lead to wide-scale abandonment and unnecesary demolitions of the
existing building stock (including buildings of historic, heritage or asthetic value). This project will use a case
study approach to test the effectiveness of various financial mechanisms and incentive programmes in
enabling wider take-up of EQPB retrofitting. Focusing on a central area precinct in a provincial town
(Whanganui) with distinctive function and character, we will investigate how insurance contracts and other
financial and regulatory incentives can serve as useful policy tools to promote risk mitigation by property
owners.

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