Risk and resilience of social infrastructure systems in a changing climate

气候变化下社会基础设施系统的风险和复原力

• 批准号: 2889284
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2889284
• 关键词: Risk; resilience; social; infrastructure; systems

Infrastructure systems provide essential services on which modern societies rely for supporting societal well-being, economic prosperity, and quality of life (Hickford et al., 2018). Yet, extreme weather events pose serious risks to infrastructure systems, and, in this time of intensifying natural disasters and climate change, infrastructure systems are under growing pressure to deliver resilient and reliable services (Hallegatte et al., 2019). Disruptions in infrastructure services caused by natural disasters place social wellbeing and economic stability at risk due to failed infrastructure provisions (Pant et al., 2017). As climate change increases the magnitude and frequency of extreme natural hazard events, infrastructure will face additional stress (Forzieri etal., 2018) and the increasing incidents of infrastructure failures could become common (Pant et al., 2017). Under this context of heightened likelihoods of extreme weather and withinfrastructure investments at an all-time high (Thacker et al., 2019), ensuring the resilience of infrastructure systems is becoming an increasing urgent task (Hall et al., 2019). This is particularly important for social infrastructure due to the vital role it has in both economicgrowth and social development (Gnade et al., 2017). The term social infrastructure (SI) has become a key focus of geographical research, yet the termhas been pulled in a diverse set of ways (Latham & Layton, 2022), affecting the framing and direction of the conversation. For this research proposal, I will use the third definition outlined by Latham and Layton (2022), which considers SI as infrastructures of social care. Under this definition, SI is a subset of the infrastructure sector which includes assets that support and accommodate social services in particular. This includes spaces such as hospitals, schools, and community spaces like public libraries. Social infrastructure is essential in supporting a safe and healthy community to maintain and promote its quality of life (Lo et al., 2015). Furthermore, there has been increasing recognition of the value and importance of social infrastructure specifically in responding to and recovering from shocks and disasters (Fraser et al., 2022). A clear example is that victims from these events will seek life-saving care and treatment, comfort, and relief at hospitals (Chaffee & Oster, 2006). Another example is schools, which are an epicentre of recovery after disasters, as they often provide residents with access to food and shelter, as well as medical and psychological resources (Lai et al., 2019; Mutch, 2015). Additionally, the role of public libraries during natural disasters has also been found to be vital for helping impacted community members fill out E-government forms, such as FEMA aid applications, by both providing assistance and the computers, electricity, and Wi-Fi needed (Young, 2018). These examples highlight some of the reasons for which it is vital to ensure that social infrastructures are functional and accessible during and after extreme weather events. However, adequately capturing social infrastructure risks is complex since social infrastructure is not only the sum of their physical assets but also their interdependence on institutions and other critical infrastructure systems. Institutions form a vital social element that creates interdependencies in systems and therefore "deserve special attention in efforts to map the vulnerability and resilience of complex, multi-infrastructure systems" (Gim & Miller, 2022). This is particularly important for relatively people-intensive social infrastructures as compared to capital-intensive economic infrastructure.

基础设施系统提供现代社会所依赖的基本服务，以支持社会福祉、经济繁荣和生活质量（Hickford et al.，2018年）。然而，极端天气事件对基础设施系统构成严重风险，并且在这个自然灾害和气候变化加剧的时代，基础设施系统在提供弹性和可靠服务方面面临越来越大的压力（Hallegatte et al.，2019年）。自然灾害造成的基础设施服务中断，使社会福祉和经济稳定面临风险，因为基础设施供应不足（Pant等人，2017年）。随着气候变化增加极端自然灾害事件的规模和频率，基础设施将面临额外的压力（Forzieri埃塔尔，2018年），基础设施故障事件的增加可能变得普遍（Pant等人，2017年）。在极端天气可能性增加和基础设施投资处于历史最高水平的背景下（Thacker等人，2019年），确保基础设施系统的弹性正成为一项日益紧迫的任务（Hall等人，2019年）。这对社会基础设施尤为重要，因为它在经济增长和社会发展中发挥着至关重要的作用（Gnade等人，2017年）。社会基础设施（SI）一词已成为地理学研究的一个重点，但该术语已被拉在一组不同的方式（莱瑟姆和莱顿，2022），影响框架和方向的对话。在本研究提案中，我将使用莱瑟姆和莱顿（2022）概述的第三个定义，该定义将SI视为社会关怀的基础设施。根据这一定义，SI是基础设施部门的一个子集，其中包括特别支持和容纳社会服务的资产。这包括医院、学校和公共图书馆等社区空间。社会基础设施对于支持安全和健康的社区以维持和提高其生活质量至关重要（Lo等人，2015年）的报告。此外，人们越来越认识到社会基础设施的价值和重要性，特别是在应对冲击和灾害并从中恢复方面（Fraser等人，2022年）。一个明显的例子是，这些事件的受害者将在医院寻求救生护理和治疗、安慰和救济（查菲和奥斯特，2006年）。另一个例子是学校，学校是灾后恢复的中心，因为学校经常为居民提供食物和住所，以及医疗和心理资源（Lai等人，2019; Mutch，2015）。此外，公共图书馆在自然灾害期间的作用也被发现对于帮助受影响的社区成员填写电子政务表格至关重要，例如FEMA援助申请，通过提供援助和所需的计算机，电力和Wi-Fi（Young，2018）。这些例子突出说明了在极端天气事件期间和之后必须确保社会基础设施正常运作和无障碍的一些原因。然而，充分把握社会基础设施风险是复杂的，因为社会基础设施不仅是其有形资产的总和，而且是其对机构和其他关键基础设施系统的相互依赖。制度构成了一个重要的社会元素，在系统中创造了相互依赖性，因此“在绘制复杂的多基础设施系统的脆弱性和弹性时值得特别关注”（Gim &米勒，2022）。与资本密集型经济基础设施相比，这对人员密集型社会基础设施尤为重要。