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Assessing the Relationship between Social Vulnerability, Social Capital, and Housing Resilience

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  • Sebastian Rowan

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA)

  • Kyle Kwiatkowski

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA)

Abstract

Social vulnerability and social capital have been shown to influence how severely communities are impacted by natural hazards and how quickly they recover. Indices exist to quantify these factors using publicly available data; however, more empirical research is needed to validate these indices and support their use in pre-disaster planning and decision making. Using data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and data gathered through imagery analysis in Google Earth, this study evaluates the effectiveness of two indices of social vulnerability and social capital to predict housing impacts and rates of recovery in Florida and Puerto Rico following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. We found the social vulnerability index to be statistically significant in explaining the variation of housing impacts in both case studies, with varying results for the sub-indices of social vulnerability. Results for the social capital index were mixed between the case studies, and we found no statistically significant relationship between any of the indices and rates of housing recovery. Our results show that indices such as these can be useful, with an awareness of limitations, for researchers and emergency practitioners, and additional empirical analysis is needed to more fully support their efficacy for resilience assessment.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastian Rowan & Kyle Kwiatkowski, 2020. "Assessing the Relationship between Social Vulnerability, Social Capital, and Housing Resilience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-21, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:18:p:7718-:d:415458
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rupasingha, Anil & Goetz, Stephan J. & Freshwater, David, 2006. "The production of social capital in US counties," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 83-101, February.
    2. Kathleen Sherrieb & Fran Norris & Sandro Galea, 2010. "Measuring Capacities for Community Resilience," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 99(2), pages 227-247, November.
    3. Susan L. Cutter & Bryan J. Boruff & W. Lynn Shirley, 2003. "Social Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 84(2), pages 242-261, June.
    4. Gareth Davies, 2017. "Pre-Modern Disaster Politics: Combating Catastrophe in the 1950s," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 47(2), pages 260-281.
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    1. Clifton B. Farnsworth & Andrew J. South & Kezia I. Tripp & Keona S. Wu, 2025. "Interdisciplinary Drivers of Puerto Rico’s Informal Housing Cycle: A Review of Key Factors," World, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-25, October.

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