Vulnerability of U.S. Cities to Environmental Hazards
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Kevin A. Borden
As cities continue to increase in size, population diversity, and complexity their vulnerability to future disasters will increase as well. This paper explores the variability in vulnerability to natural hazards among the 132 urban areas using three indices of vulnerability: social, built environment, and hazard impact. The paper then examines the relative levels of vulnerability compared to federal UASI funding. The paper demonstrates that vulnerability manifests itself as a place-based regional phenomenon, with the most vulnerable cities located in the eastern half of the U.S. The relative importance of the underlying correlates changes from city to city across the United States with social vulnerability assuming greater importance in the South and Southwest, and built environment vulnerability showing regional primacy as the driving indicator among Northeastern and Midwestern cities. Based on this empirical analysis, New Orleans was the most vulnerable urban area in the U.S. yet received only one percent of the preparedness resources awarded by the federal government.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Research Article
- An Automated Decision Support System Based on Game Theoretic Optimization for Emergency Management in Urban Environments
- A Study of Local Governments Participating in the Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Program and Populations Served
- Logistics and Staging Areas in Managing Disasters and Emergencies
- Assessing the Terrorist Threat to Singapore's Land Transportation Infrastructure
- Vulnerability of U.S. Cities to Environmental Hazards
- The Role of Homeland Security Information Bulletins within Emergency Management Organizations: A Case Study of Enactment
- Designing Homeland Security Policy within a Regional Structure: A Needs Assessment of Local Security Concerns
- Implementation of a Methodology for the Prioritizing of Suicide Attacker Recruitment Preferences
- Book Review
- Review of Meeting the Challenge of 9/11: Blueprints for More Effective Government
- Review of Emergency Management: Concepts and Strategies for Effective Programs
- Review of Precautionary Risk Management: Dealing with Catastrophic Loss Potentials in Business, the Community and Society
- A Review of America and the World in the Age of Terrorism
- Communication/News
- Post-Strike Attribution--A Political & Scientific Dilemma
