Social Levels And Hazard (In)Dipendence in Determining Vulnerability

This chapter aims to contribute to the ability to determine people’s vulnerability for large areas at sub-national scale. It is based on the assumption that disaster risk is determined as a function of three components: hazard, exposure and vulnerability. It elaborates on classifications of hazards and scrutinises basic principles of the concept of vulnerability. It introduces discriminative ‘social levels’ of vulnerability and it discusses the complex matter of distinguishing between a hazard-dependent and a hazard- independent vulnerability. A matrix has been developed that is composed of characteristics of vulnerability at different ‘social levels’ and the corresponding proxy-indicators chosen according to their availability. This matrix also reveals the potential role played by spatial datasets and remote sensing technology in quantifying vulnerability. Finally, the chapter makes several recommendations for future work.

SCHNEIDERBAUER Stefan;  EHRLICH Daniele; 

2009-09-09

United Nations University Press

JRC32736

978-92-808-1135-3,   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC32736,