Measuring Resilience to Natural Hazards: Towards Sustainable Hazard Mitigation

Jae Heon Shim and Chun-Il Kim
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Jae Heon Shim: Department of Research and Development, Research Institute of Korea Appraisal Board, 291, Innovalley-ro, Dong-gu, Daegu Metropolitan City 701-870, Korea
Chun-Il Kim: M.I.T. Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 9-238, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 10, 1-33

Abstract: Measuring resilience to natural hazards is a central issue in the hazard mitigation sciences. This paper applied a confirmatory factor methodology to operationalize the biophysical, built-environment, and socioeconomic resilience dimensions for local jurisdictions in large urban metropolitan areas in South Korea. Mapping the factor scores of the dimensions revealed great spatial variations. The factor covariances showed a trade-off relationship between natural infrastructure and human activities. A hierarchical cluster analysis was used to classify the localities into heterogeneous groups with respect to the identified resilience dimensions. Densely developed and affluent urban areas tend to lack biophysical resilience. Some local governments, sorted into the same groups, turn out to be located in different metropolitan areas. The spatial variation and inequality in the resilience dimensions suggest the necessity of integrated and flexible governance for sustainable hazard mitigation.

Keywords: natural hazards; resilience; vulnerability; confirmatory factor analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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