Emergency Capacity of Small Towns to Endure Sudden Environmental Pollution Accidents: Construction and Application of an Evaluation Model

Delu Wang and Yadong Wang
Additional contact information
Delu Wang: International College of Applied Technology, Yibin University, Yibin 644000, China
Yadong Wang: School of Economics and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-34

Abstract: Sudden environmental pollution accidents (SEPAs) in small towns are characterized by high uncertainty, complex evolution, and fast spread speed, and they cause serious harm to a wide geographic range. Thus, SEPAs greatly challenge the emergency management systems of enterprises and governments. Therefore, improving the emergency capacity of small towns (ECST) to withstand SEPAs deserves more attention. In this study, the evolution mechanism of SEPAs is systematically analyzed, revealing the interactions among various situational elements in the SEPA occurrence process. Then, an evaluation index system of the ECST response to SEPAs is constructed based on four dimensions: monitoring and early warning capacity, preparedness and mitigation capacity, response, and recovery capacity. The system includes 68 indicators and covers the key stages of the SEPA life cycle. Finally, an evaluation model of the ECST to SEPAs is proposed based on the analytic network process method, and the small town of Jiangyin City is selected as a case study for empirical evaluation. The proposed evaluation model considers the interactions and interdependent feedback between indexes, effectively improving the accuracy and scientific nature of the evaluation results. Thus, this model provides a solid decision-making reference for governments and a quantitative theoretical basis for the formulation of measures targeted at SEPAs.

Keywords: emergency capacity; sudden environmental pollution accident; small towns; evaluation model; analytic network process method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/10/5511/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/10/5511/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:10:p:5511-:d:554848

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().