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Mapping social vulnerability to natural hazards in Italy: A suitable tool for risk mitigation strategies

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  • Frigerio, Ivan
  • De Amicis, Mattia

Abstract

Italy is one of the European countries that are most heavily exposed to a wide range of natural hazards, which might cause large economic losses. In this context, the assessment of social vulnerability has an important role for evaluating the capacity of a community to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. However there are currently no published studies analysing social vulnerability and its spatial distribution in Italy. Within this framework, this paper aims to apply a proven method for assessing social vulnerability at the national scale, while considering the contribution of the socioeconomic and demographic factors that affect the Italian population. The proposed methodology is based on the Hazard-of-Place Model approach, and uses free and open source software applications (FOSS). Specifically, we selected significant components through Principal Component Analysis and derived their spatial distribution. Using component scores, we derived a social vulnerability index, evaluated its geographic distribution, and performed a cluster analysis on its spatial variation. The analysis identified different spatial patterns across Italy, providing useful information for identifying the communities most likely to experience negative natural disaster impacts due to their socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. This research represents an important contribution to improve the potentiality of risk mitigation strategies and in designing risk custom-made policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Frigerio, Ivan & De Amicis, Mattia, 2016. "Mapping social vulnerability to natural hazards in Italy: A suitable tool for risk mitigation strategies," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 187-196.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enscpo:v:63:y:2016:i:c:p:187-196
    DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2016.06.001
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    Cited by:

    1. Oleksandr Didkovskyi & Giovanni Azzone & Alessandra Menafoglio & Piercesare Secchi, 2021. "Social and material vulnerability in the face of seismic hazard: An analysis of the Italian case," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 184(4), pages 1549-1577, October.
    2. Eleonora Giovene di Girasole & Daniele Cannatella, 2017. "Social Vulnerability to Natural Hazards in Urban Systems. An Application in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-17, November.
    3. Ming Zhong & Kairong Lin & Guoping Tang & Qian Zhang & Yang Hong & Xiaohong Chen, 2020. "A Framework to Evaluate Community Resilience to Urban Floods: A Case Study in Three Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, February.
    4. Pagliacci, Francesco & Russo, Margherita, 2018. "Be (and have) good neighbours! Factors of vulnerability in the case of multiple hazards," MPRA Paper 98044, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 25 Nov 2019.
    5. Nikole Guerrero & Marta Contreras & Alondra Chamorro & Carolina Martínez & Tomás Echaveguren, 2023. "Social vulnerability in Chile: challenges for multi-scale analysis and disaster risk reduction," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 117(3), pages 3067-3102, July.
    6. Kuan-Hui Elaine Lin & Hsiang-Chieh Lee & Thung-Hong Lin, 2017. "How does resilience matter? An empirical verification of the relationships between resilience and vulnerability," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 88(2), pages 1229-1250, September.
    7. Ibolya Török, 2018. "Qualitative Assessment of Social Vulnerability to Flood Hazards in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-20, October.
    8. Yuduan Ou & Gerónimo Quiñónez-Barraza & Chubiao Wang, 2023. "Effects of Land-Use Types on Topsoil Physicochemical Properties in a Tropical Coastal Ecologically Fragile Zone of South China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-14, March.
    9. Federico Benjamín Galacho-Jiménez & David Carruana-Herrera & Julián Molina & José Damián Ruiz-Sinoga, 2022. "Evidence of the Relationship between Social Vulnerability and the Spread of COVID-19 in Urban Spaces," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-22, April.
    10. Chien-Hao Sung & Shyue-Cherng Liaw, 2021. "Using Spatial Pattern Analysis to Explore the Relationship between Vulnerability and Resilience to Natural Hazards," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-16, May.
    11. Benedetta Baldassarre & Elisa Conticelli & Angela Santangelo, 2024. "Planning for More Resilient and Safer Cities: A New Methodology for Seismic Risk Assessment at the Urban Scale, Applied to a Case Study in Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-26, February.
    12. Glauco Gallotti & Marco Antonio Santo & Ilektra Apostolidou & Jacopo Alessandri & Alberto Armigliato & Bidroha Basu & Sisay Debele & Alessio Domeneghetti & Alejandro Gonzalez-Ollauri & Prashant Kumar , 2021. "On the Management of Nature-Based Solutions in Open-Air Laboratories: New Insights and Future Perspectives," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-21, April.
    13. Mohd Idris Nor Diana & Nurfashareena Muhamad & Mohd Raihan Taha & Ashraf Osman & Md. Mahmudul Alam, 2021. "Social Vulnerability Assessment for Landslide Hazards in Malaysia: A Systematic Review Study," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-19, March.
    14. Sepehr Marzi & Jaroslav Mysiak & Arthur H Essenfelder & Mattia Amadio & Silvio Giove & Alexander Fekete, 2019. "Constructing a comprehensive disaster resilience index: The case of Italy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-23, September.
    15. Oscar Luigi Azzimonti & Matteo Colleoni & Mattia De Amicis & Ivan Frigerio, 2017. "Mappare la vulnerabilit? sociale e la resilienza di un territorio," PRISMA Economia - Societ? - Lavoro, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(3), pages 14-24.
    16. Yi Ge & Haibo Zhang & Wen Dou & Wenfang Chen & Ning Liu & Yuan Wang & Yulin Shi & Wenxin Rao, 2017. "Mapping Social Vulnerability to Air Pollution: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta Region, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-15, January.
    17. Muhammad Sajjad & Zulfiqar Ali & Mirza Waleed, 2023. "Has Pakistan learned from disasters over the decades? Dynamic resilience insights based on catastrophe progression and geo-information models," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 117(3), pages 3021-3042, July.
    18. Nicolás C. Bronfman & Paula B. Repetto & Nikole Guerrero & Javiera V. Castañeda & Pamela C. Cisternas, 2021. "Temporal evolution in social vulnerability to natural hazards in Chile," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 107(2), pages 1757-1784, June.
    19. Mastronardi, Luigi & Cavallo, Aurora & Romagnoli, Luca, 2022. "A novel composite environmental fragility index to analyse Italian ecoregions’ vulnerability," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    20. Yi Ge & Wen Dou & Ning Liu, 2017. "Planning Resilient and Sustainable Cities: Identifying and Targeting Social Vulnerability to Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-19, August.
    21. Pagliacci, Francesco, 2019. "Agri-food activities in jeopardy—A territorial analysis of risks from natural hazards," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    22. Pablo Aznar-Crespo & Antonio Aledo & Joaquín Melgarejo-Moreno & Arturo Vallejos-Romero, 2021. "Adapting Social Impact Assessment to Flood Risk Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-27, March.
    23. Ibolya Török & Adina-Eliza Croitoru & Titus-Cristian Man, 2021. "Assessing the Impact of Extreme Temperature Conditions on Social Vulnerability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-21, July.
    24. Yi Ge & Wen Dou & Jianping Dai, 2017. "A New Approach to Identify Social Vulnerability to Climate Change in the Yangtze River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-19, December.
    25. José Francisco León-Cruz & Rocío Castillo-Aja, 2022. "A GIS-based approach for tornado risk assessment in Mexico," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 114(2), pages 1563-1583, November.

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