Social vulnerability assessment of flood risk using GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis. A case study of Vila Nova de Gaia (Portugal)

Abstract

Over the last decade, flood disasters have affected millions of people and caused massive economic losses. Social vulnerability assessment uses a combination of several factors to represent a population's differential access to resources and its ability to cope with and respond to hazards. In this paper, social vulnerability assessment to flood risk was applied to the third most populous Portuguese municipality. The study was developed at the neighbourhood level, allowing for social vulnerability analysis at inter civil parish, intra civil parish, and municipality scales. A geographic information system-based multicriteria decision analysis (GIS-MCDA) was applied to social vulnerability and allows for an increased understanding and improved monitoring of social vulnerability over space, identifying 'hot spots' that require adaptation policies. Mafamude, Oliveira do Douro, Vila Nova de Gaia, and Avintes civil parishes display the greatest vulnerability to flooding. According to the most pessimistic scenario 57%À68% of the area of these civil parishes is classed at a high or very high level of social vulnerability. The GIS-MCDA helps to assess what and who is at risk, and where targeted impact-reduction strategies should be implemented. The results demonstrate the importance of an urban-scale approach instead of a river basin scale to urban flood risk management plans.

Mapping Socioeconomic Exposure for Flood Risk Assessment in Italy

“…Social variables are often neglected, although they can help for understanding how the expected burden is distributed. The capacity to cope with disaster damage and losses has been previously analyzed by using a number of socioeconomic characteristics such as wealth, age, ethnicity, and quality of dwellings, which are employed to define a vulnerability index (Bakkensen, Fox‐Lent, Read, & Linkov, ; Cutter, Boruff, & Shirley, ; Fekete, ; Fernandez et al., ; Frigerio, Strigaro, Mattavelli, Mugnano, & De Amicis, ; Koks et al., ; Roder et al., ; Willis, Gibin, Barros, & Webber, ; Zhou, Li, Wu, Wu, & Shi, ). The choice of variables used in such studies is typically influenced by the availability of spatially explicit data (Balica, Douben, & Wright, ).…”

“…Maps of population and asset exposure are very important for helping planners in the design of risk mitigation policies (Bajat, Krunic, Bojovic, & Kovacevic, ), but also for responding properly during emergencies (Moon & Farmer, ). Risk assessment typically combines various dimensions (structural, social, economic, institutional, and environmental) of vulnerability (Fernandez, Mourato, & Moreira, ; Fuchs, ; Kienberger, Lang, & Zeil, ). An integrated approach requires a quantitative evaluation of each individual component's characteristics (e.g., buildings, people, productive facilities) in order to determine their overall vulnerability (Garcia, Oliveira, & Zêzere, ).…”

Spatial Analysis of Social Vulnerability to Floods Based on the MOVE Framework and Information Entropy Method: Case Study of Katsushika Ward, Tokyo

“…Places with many medical facilities have a higher ability to prevent infections and other diseases caused by floods. Resilience is related to medical services, social networks, physical security, preparations for disasters, and early alarm [8]. In the analysis of this study, the densities of medical and evacuation facilities, and the average number of people per household were used as indicators of resilience.…”

“…It is a term used to describe the extent of the vulnerability of a particular social group, organization, or country to damages or losses when encountering a disaster [5]. Social vulnerability is related to gender, class, race, age, and poverty [6][7][8][9][10]. In terms of age, the social vulnerability of the young and the elderly populations is high, because these are the age groups that cannot easily seek refuge on their own during disasters.…”

Risco, Vulnerabilidade Social E Resiliência: Conceitos E Desafios

“…Independentemente das perspetivas diferentes adotadas pelos vários autores, parece haver consenso quanto ao facto de a vulnerabilidade social não ser uma simples consequência da exposição aos perigos, mas sim o resultado de condições de desigualdade social que precedem a ocorrência desses processos, e que podem estar relacionados com fatores como a pobreza, a idade, o sexo ou a classe social Bolin, 2006;Cutter, 2006Cutter, , 2003Dwyer et al, 2004;Hufschmidt, 2011;Kuhlicke et al, 2011). (Curran, 2018(Curran, , 2017Cutter, 2009; (Fernandez et al, 2016).…”