Sustainable livelihoods and people’s vulnerability in the face of coastal hazards

Gaillard, Jean‐Christophe; Maceda, Emmanuel A.; Stasiak, Elodie; Berre, Iwan Le; Espaldon, Maria Victoria O.

doi:10.1007/s11852-009-0054-y

Cited by 60 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…Raaijmakers et al (2008) also argued that greater awareness of risks could lead to a higher level of community-preparedness. Previous typhoon and vulnerability research conducted in Asia has emphasised the socioeconomic and institutional factors contributing to people's vulnerability (Gaillard et al 2007;Gaillard et al 2009). However, this study focused on the typhoon knowledge of subgroups within a particular population of coastal China.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the vulnerability of migrants in Shanghai to typhoons

2011

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China has experienced considerable migration from inland to coastal areas since the reforms of 1978, with migrants becoming an important population in many coastal cities. Compared with non-migrants (long-term residents), migrant vulnerability to typhoons is considered high due to limited access to job opportunities, social security, information, and other resources; however, there is no research on vulnerability of this population sector to natural hazards. This initial study analysed the perceptions and personal experiences of migrants living in Shanghai of typhoon hazards. During May 2010, empirical data were collected using an online questionnaire and face-face interviews. Response data indicated that risk knowledge of migrants was significantly lower than among non-migrants; differing risk perceptions between the groups were consistent with levels of personal typhoon experience; statistically significant differences in hazard knowledge within the sample also related to education and occupation; a variety of strategies to cope with typhoon hazards was being applied by residential committees; and that migrants were not generally recognised as a vulnerable group requiring special consideration in hazard risk management. To reduce the vulnerability of migrants to typhoons, we recommend expanding the range of accessible communication technologies distributing warning information; organising more educational and training programmes, at government and corporate level, to increase community awareness of natural hazards; encouraging local residential committees to promote social networks and engagement for migrants; and providing corporate incentives to develop insurances specifically for migrant needs. Further research is necessary to assess the differences in vulnerability between different types of migrants.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the vulnerability of migrants in Shanghai to typhoons

2011

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“…Building on Chambers and Conway [34], Scoones introduces in his framework for sustainable rural livelihoods the idea that vulnerability is determined by access to natural, financial, human, and social capital [57]. After Carney added physical capital [58], the resulting sustainable livelihoods framework or approach became highly influential and it is subsequently applied in both research and practice [36][37][38][59][60][61][62]. A sustainable livelihoods perspective is therefore suitable as an analytical lens for investigating how modernity transforms disaster risk.…”

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such sustainable livelihood approaches have also been widely applied in relation to vulnerability and disaster risk [37,38], thus providing a suitable analytical lens for investigating how modernity is transforming disaster risk by altering peoples' access to different types of capital. The purpose of this article is to investigate how modernity transforms disaster risk in rural communities in South Pacific small island developing states from a sustainable livelihoods perspective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dark Side of Development: Modernity, Disaster Risk and Sustainable Livelihoods in Two Coastal Communities in Fiji

Becker

2017

Sustainability

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Abstract:The world is changing rapidly, as are the remotest rural communities. Modernity is spreading across the world under the guise of development and it is transforming disaster risk. This raises issues concerning how disaster risk is changing in such milieus. Using a sustainable livelihood approach, this article investigates access to different types of capital that central to the vulnerability of two coastal communities in Fiji that are affected by modernity to different extents. This comparative case study is based on semi-structured interviews, focus groups and observation. The results indicate that modernity transforms access to and use of key capitals (natural, physical, financial, human, and social capital) on both community and household levels, increasing dependence on external resources that are unequally distributed, while undermining social cohesion and support. Although disaster risk might be of a similar magnitude across the board at the community level, modernity transforms vulnerability significantly and skews the distribution of disaster risk, to the detriment of the households left behind by development.

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“…The integration of livelihood measures into vulnerability assessments is one example, but few studies have attempted to merge theoretical concepts, such as those about forms of capital, with the vulnerability dimension to guide the assessment processes (Gaillard et al . ; Lazarus ). Some notable exceptions include the studies by Eakin and Bojorquez‐Tapia () and Hahn et al .…”

Section: Livelihood Measures In Global Change Vulnerability Indicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indexing livelihood vulnerability to the effects of typhoons in indigenous communities in Taiwan

Lin

Polsky

2015

Geographical Journal

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The theoretical importance of understanding how livelihoods shape local vulnerability to the effects of climate change has received broad attention, but with relatively few attempts to produce and implement an analytical framework based on the theory. This study develops a livelihood vulnerability analytical framework, and applies it to the case of rural indigenous communities of Taiwan that are regularly exposed to typhoons and associated geological hazards. Measures of the factors influencing how typhoons impact these indigenous communities (sensitivities), and of the abilities of such communities to respond in anticipatory or reactive modes (adaptive capacities) are also included. The study is based on mixed qualitative and quantitative analysis, combining data from in‐person interviews and surveys from 2006 to 2009. Livelihood vulnerability narratives are developed accordingly, together with a spatially‐explicit livelihood vulnerability index to diagnose the dimensionality and the distribution of vulnerability across the area. Three patterns of livelihood vulnerability are found including least vulnerable communities in the remotest area with relatively abundant livelihood capitals to mitigate vulnerability, intermediate vulnerability communities which are doubly exposed to market and typhoon‐associated stresses, and the most vulnerable communities trapped in poverty and vulnerability loops. The patterns reveal strong spatial relationships of social development beginning with the Japanese colonial government (1895–1945) and continuing through the Kuomintang Chinese government (1945–present). This historical development shaped the original human‐environmental conditions in each community and the inequality continues to expand due to increased hazard risk and inappropriate policy interventions. This study highlights the need for future research to develop a continuous program for longitudinally tracking the dynamism of the three patterns of vulnerability.

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Sustainable livelihoods and people’s vulnerability in the face of coastal hazards

Cited by 60 publications

References 27 publications

Understanding the vulnerability of migrants in Shanghai to typhoons

Understanding the vulnerability of migrants in Shanghai to typhoons

Dark Side of Development: Modernity, Disaster Risk and Sustainable Livelihoods in Two Coastal Communities in Fiji

Indexing livelihood vulnerability to the effects of typhoons in indigenous communities in Taiwan

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