Comparative indicators of hazards vulnerability in urban areas

该项目调查了全国120个最大城市对自然灾害事件的脆弱性。这项研究将在地理信息系统中识别和整合那些特定的生物物理、社会和建造的环境变量，这些变量要么增加要么减少城市的脆弱性。推动这项研究的有三个问题：1)哪些潜在因素会产生人类系统(或社会)脆弱性，哪些指标最适合衡量它？2)我们能否开发一种一致而稳健的比较指标，使我们能够使用危害、社会和建成环境指标来比较一个大都市地区与另一个大都市地区的整体脆弱性？3)三个关键指标(危害、社会和建筑环境)的相对重要性是否随时间和空间而变化？该项目将利用现有的危险和人口数据库，以及由研究人员通过NSF资助的先前研究创建的数据库。对于每个大都市区，我们将开发一系列综合指数，使我们能够描绘出每个城市的自然、社会和建成环境的脆弱性。历史数据的可获得性使我们能够监测过去40年(1960-2000年)脆弱性的变化。通过使用地理信息系统，我们不仅能够绘制脆弱性的地理差异图，而且还能够绘制历史性变化图。通过这种方式，我们应该能够确定哪些城市地区最脆弱，以及为什么。

This project examines the vulnerability of 120 of the nation's largest cities to natural hazard events. The research will identify and integrate within a geographical information system, those specific biophysical, social, and built environment variables that either increase or decrease vulnerability in cities. Three questions drive this research: 1) What underlying factors produce human systems (or social) vulnerability and what metrics are most appropriate for measuring it? 2) Can we develop a consistent and robust comparative measure that allows us to compare the overall vulnerability of one metropolitan area to another using hazard, social, and built environment indicators? and 3) Does the relative importance of the three key indicators (hazard, social, and built environment) change over time and space? The project will utilize existing hazard and demographic databases as well as those created by the investigator through prior NSF-funded research. For each metropolitan area we will develop a series of composite indexes that allow us to paint a picture of the vulnerability of the natural, social, and built environment in each city. The availability of historic data enables us to monitor changes in vulnerability during the past 40 years (1960-2000). By using a geographical information system, we will be able to map not only the geographic differences in vulnerability, but also the historic changes as well. In this way, we should be able to determine which urban areas are the most vulnerable and why.