Vulnerability assessment of cities to earthquake based on the catastrophe theory: a case study of Tabriz city, Iran

Arouq, Mansour Kheirizadeh; Esmaeilpour, M; Sarvar, Houshang

doi:10.1007/s12665-020-09103-2

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…When the labour market is concerned, vulnerability is seen as a part of the occupational precariousness, which varies depending on the surroundings and circumstances of people employed, including job insecurity, shortage of safety net and labour regulations (Ansoleaga et al , 2019). Various risk factors such as workplace injuries, physical and mental trauma, economic hardships, adverse working conditions and anachronistic labour relations, including already impoverished socio-economic conditions, shove the floating workers into the vicious cycle of poverty, from where they hardly find an exit route (Adeniran et al , 2020; Kheirizadeh Arouq et al , 2020). While assessing workers' vulnerability, many researchers recognize precarity and job insecurity as the common causal factors, including other context-specific factors (Biegert, 2019; Pollert and Charlwood, 2009).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing vulnerability of informal floating workers in Bangladesh before and during COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-method analysis

Alam

Adnan

Baten

et al. 2021

BIJ

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PurposeGlobally, a myriad of floating workers is in grave jeopardy due to the ceasing of employment opportunities that resulted from the mobility restriction during the Covid-19. Despite the global concern, developing countries have been suffering disproportionately due to the dominance of informal workers in their labour market, posing the necessity to campaign for the immediate protection of this vulnerable population. This paper analyses various dimensions of the vulnerability of urban floating workers in the context of Covid-19 in Bangladesh. In reference to International Labour Organization's (ILO) “Decent Work” concept, this paper endeavours to examine floating workers' vulnerability using the insider-outsider framework in context to Covid-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, data were collected before the pandemic to assess the vulnerability of the informal floating workers. Later, we extended the study to the second phase during the Covid-19 pandemic to understand how pandemic affects the lives and livelihood of floating workers. In phase one, data were collected from a sample of 342 floating workers and analysed based on job security, wages, working environment, psychological wellbeing and education to understand the vulnerability of floating workers. In phase two, 20 in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted, followed by thematic analysis to explore how the pandemic affects the existing vulnerability of floating workers.FindingsVarious social protection schemes were analysed to evaluate their effectiveness in reducing the vulnerability of floating workers facing socio-economic crises. The study has found that the pandemic has multiplied the existing vulnerability of the floating workers on many fronts that include job losses, food crisis, shelter insecurity, education, social, physical and mental wellbeing. In response to the pandemic, the Government stimulus packages and Non-government Covid-19 initiatives lack the appropriate system, magnitude, and focus on protecting the floating workers in Bangladesh.Practical implicationsThis paper outlines various short-term interventions and long-term policy prescriptions to safeguard floating workers' lives and livelihood from the ongoing Corona pandemic and unforeseen uncertainties.Originality/valueThis paper is the first of its kind that aims at understanding the vulnerability of this significant workforce in Bangladesh, taking the whole picture of Government and Non-government initiatives during Covid-19.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing vulnerability of informal floating workers in Bangladesh before and during COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-method analysis

Alam

Adnan

Baten

et al. 2021

BIJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Another case study on flash floods in Egypt used a ranking system based on a composite vulnerability index with eight parameters that integrated hydro-climate and physical vulnerability components [78,79]. Fuzzy functions of the catastrophe theory are used for the seismic vulnerability of Tabriz city to study the impact of natural, physical, and human variables [80].…”

Section: Vulnerability Assessment Of Citesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vulnerability Assessment of Ubiquitous Cities Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

2020

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Urbanization is a challenge faced by most countries worldwide and leads to several problems. Due to rapid communication capabilities, conforming the megacities into Ubiquitous cities (U-cities) seems to be a potential solution to mitigate the problems caused by urbanization. Extensive reliance and dependencies of U-cities on information and communication technologies (ICTs) bring forth a new set of risks and vulnerabilities to these megacities. This research investigates the vulnerabilities of ICTs against man-made and natural hazards in a systematic way using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. The study identifies the vulnerabilities of different ICTs in U-cities and helps in improving the system’s resistivity against various hazards. The task is performed by evaluating the level of disruption on the different technologies and areas under the identified man-made and natural hazards. The research provides an insight into the working mechanisms of involved ICTs. It also helps to manage U-cities with more secure and sustainable services. The research identified that the new ICTs-based hazards have emerged and have become among the most influential hazards. The research has concluded that the vulnerabilities of U-cities are significantly different from that of conventional cities and need further studies to develop further understandings. The research recommends similar vulnerability studies for regional areas as well.

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“…Further available are soft computing techniques for the rapid evaluation of visual safety and a damage classification of existing buildings [37]; a prototype for machine learning-based earthquake hazard safety assessment of structures by using a smartphone app [38]; assessing building damage from xBD satellite imagery datasets [39,40]; a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) that features an automated assessment of building damage based on remote sensing and image analysis [41]. A vulnerability assessment of urban spaces to earthquake hazard using the catastrophe theory in the context of geographic information system has also been conducted [42]. The detailed geological, geodetical, geotechnical and geophysical parameters of the region of the North Tabriz Fault were combined using an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and a deterministic near-field earthquake of magnitude 7 was simulated [43].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ANN on its own is ineffective when applied to earthquake vulnerability problems and it has therefore been highly recommended by researchers to apply ANN with hybrid models. ANN can also determine complicated patterns in sets of data which computational formulas are unable to solve [38][39][40][41][42]. Furthermore, it provides reliable predictions even on noisy and uncertain data [40,41].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Earthquake Vulnerability Assessment for Urban Areas Using an ANN and Hybrid SWOT-QSPM Model

et al. 2021

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Tabriz city in NW Iran is a seismic-prone province with recurring devastating earthquakes that have resulted in heavy casualties and damages. This research developed a new computational framework to investigate four main dimensions of vulnerability (environmental, social, economic and physical). An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Model and a SWOT-Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) were applied. Firstly, a literature review was performed to explore indicators with significant impact on aforementioned dimensions of vulnerability to earthquakes. Next, the twenty identified indicators were analyzed in ArcGIS, a geographic information system (GIS) software, to map earthquake vulnerability. After classification and reclassification of the layers, standardized maps were presented as input to a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) and Self-Organizing Map (SOM) neural network. The resulting Earthquake Vulnerability Maps (EVMs) showed five categories of vulnerability ranging from very high, to high, moderate, low and very low. Accordingly, out of the nine municipality zones in Tabriz city, Zone one was rated as the most vulnerable to earthquakes while Zone seven was rated as the least vulnerable. Vulnerability to earthquakes of residential buildings was also identified. To validate the results data were compared between a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) and a Self-Organizing Map (SOM). The scatter plots showed strong correlations between the vulnerability ratings of the different zones achieved by the SOM and MLP. Finally, the hybrid SWOT-QSPM paradigm was proposed to identify and evaluate strategies for hazard mitigation of the most vulnerable zone. For hazard mitigation in this zone we recommend to diligently account for environmental phenomena in designing and locating of sites. The findings are useful for decision makers and government authorities to reconsider current natural disaster management strategies.

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Vulnerability assessment of cities to earthquake based on the catastrophe theory: a case study of Tabriz city, Iran

Cited by 18 publications

References 29 publications

Assessing vulnerability of informal floating workers in Bangladesh before and during COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-method analysis

Assessing vulnerability of informal floating workers in Bangladesh before and during COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-method analysis

Vulnerability Assessment of Ubiquitous Cities Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Earthquake Vulnerability Assessment for Urban Areas Using an ANN and Hybrid SWOT-QSPM Model

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