Comparative indicators of hazards vulnerability in urban areas

该项目审查了全国120个最大城市对自然灾害事件的脆弱性。 这项研究将确定那些增加或减少城市脆弱性的具体生物物理、社会和人造环境变量，并将其纳入地理信息系统。 三个问题驱动了这项研究：1）哪些潜在因素产生了人类系统（或社会）的脆弱性，什么指标最适合衡量它？2)我们能否开发出一种一致而稳健的比较措施，使我们能够使用灾害、社会和建筑环境指标来比较一个大都市区与另一个大都市区的整体脆弱性？3）三个关键指标（灾害、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统计数据库，以及由研究人员通过以前的NSF资助的研究创建的数据库。 对于每个大都市区，我们将开发一系列综合指数，使我们能够描绘每个城市的自然，社会和建筑环境的脆弱性。 历史数据的存在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，而且还能够绘制历史变化。 通过这种方式，我们应该能够确定哪些城市地区最脆弱，以及为什么最脆弱。

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.