Community vulnerability to hazards: introducing local expert knowledge into the equation

Yago Martín (), Marcos Rodrigues Mimbrero and María Zúñiga-Antón
Additional contact information
Yago Martín: University of South Carolina
Marcos Rodrigues Mimbrero: University of Zaragoza
María Zúñiga-Antón: University of Zaragoza

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2017, vol. 89, issue 1, No 18, 367-386

Abstract: Abstract Assessments of social vulnerability have gained importance over the years, evolving from their initial emphasis on environmental factors surrounding natural disasters to a conceptual framework in which human agency plays a more decisive role. Up to know, most approaches to vulnerability were developed using an equally weighted approach in which each component contributes the same to vulnerability. To improve and enrich the information needed by authorities and stakeholders, we believe that a participatory approach would enhance our current understanding of vulnerability. Therefore, as an alternative to equally weighted approaches we propose and test the introduction of an expert panel to provide deeper insights into the relative contribution of vulnerability drivers. Our methodology has been applied to Aragón (Spain) at a municipality scale. The core of the analysis is a principal component analysis (PCA) applied to a set of socioeconomic and demographic variables. PCA allows extracting the main drivers of vulnerability in the region. Then, we introduce the role of a local expert panel by means of an analytical hierarchical process. Results are mapped and analyzed to (1) outline the spatial distribution of Community Vulnerability Index (CoVI), (2) determine the extent and location of vulnerable areas and (3) identify their main drivers. Overall, the introduction of the panel improves the ability of the method to differentiate strong (low CoVI) and weak (high CoVI) positions, compared to the original equally weighted approach.

Keywords: Vulnerability index; Natural hazards; Local expert panel; Weighting approach; Aragón; Spain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-017-2969-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:nathaz:v:89:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s11069-017-2969-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11069

DOI: 10.1007/s11069-017-2969-1

Access Statistics for this article

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards is currently edited by Thomas Glade, Tad S. Murty and Vladimír Schenk

More articles in Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards from Springer, International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().