Towards a Local-Level Resilience Composite Index: Introducing Different Degrees of Indicator Quantification

Abstract

Within disaster resilience research there is a trend of developing quantitative metrics for resilience analysis. Quantitative indicators can be useful for decision makers in the field of resilience building to prioritize preventive actions to target the least resilient. This study explores possibilities and constraints in quantifying disaster resilience at the local level. While national or regional-level indicators mostly employ existing secondary source data, at the local level it is necessary to collect new data in most cases. The main aim of this study is to investigate how resilience indicators with different stages of operationalization can be developed at the local level. Using the example of the Swiss canton of Grisons, three local-level partial indicators for community resilience against natural hazard are developed. In this process qualitative research is the necessary basis to construct quantitative indicators. For each partial indicator different stages of quantification are offered to illustrate how quantitatively operationalized indicators can be developed and to examine their strengths and weaknesses. For this purpose a classification of different indicator operationalization stages is proposed, ranging from vague qualitative criteria to fully quantified criteria.

Keywords

Disaster resilience / Indicator development / Resilience index / Risk and loss perception / Switzerland

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