As various functions were concentrated in cities due to industrialization and urbanization since the 1960s, rising real estate prices in cities and urban transportation and environmental problems began to emerge. Since there is a limit to solving urba...
As various functions were concentrated in cities due to industrialization and urbanization since the 1960s, rising real estate prices in cities and urban transportation and environmental problems began to emerge. Since there is a limit to solving urban problems only with vertical development of ground space, underground space development was carried out as part of measures to efficiently solve them. Initially, the underground space was used as an underground crosswalk and evacuation facility for simple passage, but as commercial elements such as stores were added to the space, it developed into an underground shopping Center with the aspect of commercial facilities. Starting with the "New Seoul Underground Shopping Center" in front of the Seoul City Hall Plaza in 1967, 70 are currently operating in local governments nationwide, and it has established itself as a representative space for convenience for users. However, it is difficult to completely guarantee the safety of users in the underground shopping center due to the risk of fire and evacuation due to the spatial characteristics of the underground shopping center and the fact that it is used by an unspecified number of people. Preparing measures to secure the safety of users of underground shopping centers is still indispensable, and for this purpose, fire and evacuation studies reflecting the current status of underground
shopping centers need to be conducted. It is predicted that it will be possible to identify and cope with life safety threats in the current situation only when areview is conducted based on the characteristics of the use and space of underground shopping center at this point, not simply interpretation of fire and evacuation results at the design stage and completion stage. In the event of a fire in an underground shopping mall, it was confirmed that the time to reach the limit of visibility near the corridor and entrance stairs was reduced by about 0.52 to 8.43%, and the rate of visibility reduction increased in proportion to the distance to the fire point. Based on the results, it is judged that the sales stand protruding from the hallway in the event of a fire in the underground shopping mall is an obstacle in terms of securing evacuation allowance time.
If the width of the passage (8.6m) and the width of the stairs (6.0m) connected to the entrance stairs are wide, the sale stand installed in the hallway reduces the width of the hallway so that evacuation personnel can form a long congested section in the hallway. This interferes with the flow of evacuation personnel in the
hallway and increases the evacuation completion time to 4.46~10.77%. If the width (4.3m) of the passage connected to the entrance stairs is narrow and the width of the stairs (6.0m) is wide, the sales stand installed in the hallway in contact with the fire-prone shopping mall will form a long congested section in the hallway and increase the evacuation completion time by 3.37~5.70%. In addition, it reduces the time for people in the hallway to start to be exposed to smoke, and the number of deaths (119 people) in the area also increases by
1.48 times compared to the number of deaths (80 people) before the sale stand installation. When the width (4.3m) of the passage connected to the entrance stairs and the width of the stairs (4.3m) are narrow, the sale stand not only shortens the start time of congestion in the hallway and entrance stairs, but also expands the
congestion section. In addition, evacuation completion time was increased by 5.00% from 4.35 to 5.76% stairs in the hallway, and no deaths occurred in the area before the sale stand was installed, but 34 deaths were confirmed after the stand was installed. Finally, in the event of a fire in the underground shopping center, the sale stand protruding from the hallway formed a long evacuation matrix in the hallway and shortened the time they began to be exposed to smoke, causing more casualties than before the sale stand was installed. Therefore, it is judged that the sale stand is an obstacle to securing evacuation safety for users of underground shopping center. The results of this study have limitations in analyzing the effect of sale stand
installed in corridors on the evacuation safety of users in the event of a fire in a straight-line underground shopping center among straight, radial, and complex underground shopping centers. In terms of future social development, the demand for developing underground spaces with high utilization value is expected to continue to increase, and underground shopping malls with more advanced concepts are expected to emerge than at this point. Accordingly, additional studies on fires occurring in various types of underground shopping malls are needed to ensure evacuation safety for users in underground shopping malls.