Temporal and spatial changes in social vulnerability to natural hazards
Temporal and spatial changes in social vulnerability to natural hazards
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.0710375105
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发表时间：
2008-02-19
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Finch, Christina
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cutter, Susan L.;Finch, Christina
在过去的40年里（1960-2000），美国经历了人口规模，发展模式，经济条件和社会特征的重大转变。这些社会、经济和建筑环境的变化以深刻的方式改变了美国的危险景观，生活在高危地区的人比以往任何时候都多。为了改进应急管理，必须认识到易受危害的弱势群体的可变性，并相应地制定基于地方的应急计划。社会脆弱性的概念确定了可能不太可能对自然灾害作出反应、科普和从自然灾害中恢复的敏感人群。社会脆弱性是复杂和动态的，随空间和时间而变化。本文介绍了美国从1960年到现在的社会脆弱性的空间和时间模式的经验证据。以县为研究单位，我们发现，在所有时间段内持续增加社会脆弱性的因素是密度（城市），种族/民族和社会经济地位。社会脆弱性的空间格局虽然最初集中在某些地理区域，但随着时间的推移变得更加分散。全国趋势显示，社会脆弱性稳步下降，但区域差异很大，许多国家在过去五十年中社会脆弱性有所增加。
During the past four decades (1960-2000), the United States experienced major transformations in population size, development patterns, economic conditions, and social characteristics. These social, economic, and built-environment changes altered the American hazardscape in profound ways, with more people living in high-hazard areas than ever before. To improve emergency management, it is important to recognize the variability in the vulnerable populations exposed to hazards and to develop place-based emergency plans accordingly. The concept of social vulnerability identifies sensitive populations that may be less likely to respond to, cope with, and recover from a natural disaster. Social vulnerability is complex and dynamic, changing over space and through time. This paper presents empirical evidence on the spatial and temporal patterns in social vulnerability in the United States from 1960 to the present. Using counties as our study unit, we found that those components that consistently increased social vulnerability for all time periods were density (urban), race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The spatial patterning of social vulnerability, although initially concentrated in certain geographic regions, has become more dispersed over time. The national trend shows a steady reduction in social vulnerability, but there is considerable regional variability, with many counties increasing in social vulnerability during the past five decades.